Kushina Lives
by SamusOlderBrother
Summary: Point of divergence: Minato was just a split second faster than in canon and Kushina didn't take a fatal blow when Minato sealed kyuubi. Canon!Naruto is already a BMF, he just didn't have parents. What if one of his parents survived? Adventure/Philosophy/Romance/Friendship/Drama/Family
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Point of divergence: Kushina doesn't die in the kyuubi attack when Naruto was born. Minato was just a split second faster than in canon and Kushina didn't take a fatal blow. Obviously, Sarutobi doesn't have to deal with baby Naruto, Naruto isn't an orphan, and so forth. This is not about awesome new jutsu or how much more powerful Naruto would be. Naruto is already a BMF, he just didn't have parents around during his childhood. But what if he did? First chapter in Kushina POV. Later chapters in Naruto POV.

Chapter 1

Kushina woke up in a hospital bed. She remembered Minato finishing the sealing jutsu and the kyuubi was sucked into her son. She remembered being wounded as the kyuubi screamed at being incarcerated yet again. She had thought it had been fatal. Minato said that it looked fatal. So why was she still alive?

A nurse must have seen her eyes opened because she heard them talking about Sandaime. Sarutobi-sama would probably arrive soon with many questions that they hadn't had the time to properly answer the night of the attack. The night of Naruto's birth.

Kushina was weak, but she was alive. And she wanted nothing more than to hold him in her arms. To protect him. She knew all about what it was like to be a young jinchuuriki. She knew what it was like to grow up alone.

"Nurse," Kushina rasped. Her throat and chest hurt badly. She didn't even bother trying to form chakra. She simply searched for a call button. She was still exhausted. Her heritage gave her incredible longevity and health, but she had been injured badly. It would take some time to completely heal. As much as she wanted to storm off and find her son, she would have to rely on others.

The nurse came in and looked at Kushina. "You are an amazing woman, Uzumaki-san," the nurse said. "Nobody expected you to wake. When Sandaime-sama brought you in, you had internal injuries and suffered from severe chakra exhaustion."

"Where is my son?" Kushina asked, grabbing the nurse's arm. "Where is Sarutobi-sama?"

"Please. You must calm down, Uzumaki-san. Your injuries are severe."

Kushina's temper flared. She knew that she should rest. Objectively, she knew that it was a bad idea. But she hadn't seen her son, her husband had used a forbidden sealing jutsu that dragged him to hell to save them, and she thought that she had died. She knew better, but her temper got the better of her.

"NO! BRING. ME. MY. SON," she screamed, forming chakra and channeling it into her body. "NOW!"

The nurse screamed in pain and Kushina realized that she was squeezing the poor woman's arm with a combination of a mother's protective instincts and the enhanced strength of ninja techniques. Kushina let go of the nurse.

"I'm sorry. Please. Just bring me my son," Kushina pleaded.

"Thank the gods," came a familiar voice. Jiraiya-sensei crouched in the window. "I know that I am the boy's godfather, but I would have been terrible at it. Sarutobi-sensei would have had to do most of the work. I know nothing of babies." Jiraiya had his head hung in shame. He wouldn't meet Kushina's eyes.

"Where is he, Jiraiya-sensei? Do you know?" Kushina pleaded.

"Sarutobi-sensei is protecting him." Jiraiya stopped. "I—" Jiraiya turned away. He couldn't even look in her general direction. His favorite students had grown up, gotten married, and had a child. To top it off, they had asked him to be the boy's godfather. He knew his own faults. He knew that he couldn't be around the boy until he was older. He just couldn't. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," his voice was barely a whisper.

Kushina was barely paying attention. Her body was screaming in pain from her exertion with the nurse. Jiraiya was sorry. Why wouldn't he be sorry for her? Her husband, his favorite student, had died protecting the village. It hit her then. Minato was dead. Not only dead, but dragged off by the shinigami.

She wept openly. Her son was alive. Her husband was dead. She was still excited about her son, but it was bittersweet without Minato. They were shinobi. They knew the risks. But she had always dealt with it in the long term by denying the possibility of their deaths.

The nurse led Sarutobi-sama into the room. Jiraiya still wouldn't look at Kushina, but he didn't leave either. Kushina was flooded with joy at the tiny baby Sarutobi brought her. She cried harder, bringing Naruto into her uncharacteristically gentle embrace. He had blonde hair, just like Minato.

—6 months later: the apartment of Kushina Uzumaki—

"Jiraiya-sensei, it doesn't matter. I'm not dead," Kushina said.

"It matters. I heard that you two might be dead and my first thought was, 'I hope Sarutobi-sensei doesn't know I'm his godfather,' because I didn't want a baby around. You and Minato honored me and I nearly blew it off because I don't like babies," Jiraiya said fiercely. He had vowed that he would be the very best godfather possible.

Kushina paused, looking at the Sannin intent on murdering the man. He hadn't left her alone since the hospital. Naruto was finally asleep and the dolt was nearly screaming at her. He really did know nothing about babies. For being such a renowned pervert, the Sannin was amazingly uninformed about the aftermath.

"Shhh," Kushina shushed. "Naruto is finally asleep." She had a hard look in her eyes. She had recovered quickly from her injuries. A testament to her Uzumaki health. She knew that Jiraiya was wracked with guilt. At first, she had been infuriated with the Sannin, but after several months she was mostly just tired. "Jiraiya-sensei, you aren't helping. I'm exhausted. Naruto is definitely an Uzimaki. He has endless stamina and I don't have the energy to be mad at you anymore. We are safe within the village. Just go somewhere. Write your books. If you wake Naruto again, by all that is righteous and holy in this world I swear I will poison you and then beat you to death. I mean it. Come back often, but leave. Tsunade has been gone since the end of the war. You are fantastic with genin, but Naruto is only a baby."

"But—"

"I'm letting you off the hook, Jiraiya-sensei," Kushina said honestly. It wasn't the old lech's fault, really. It was like the scorpion and the frog. "Just make sure that you come back around," she added.

Jiraiya hung his head. They had had this conversation many times before, but he could tell that the Red-Hot Habenero was no longer angry with him. He would have deserved it if she had held a grudge forever. He knew that. After the first time Kushina had forgiven him, he'd made the vow. He intended to keep it, but he couldn't fight her anymore. She was right. He hated that she was right, but he admitted it. "You're right. I'm not helping. I will not fail again. I will return."

Kushina sighed. "I almost wish you'd just go peep at the hotsprings so I could have some peace," Kushina muttered. She was too tired to be offended by the old lech. She fell asleep where she sat on the couch leaving Jiraiya to wonder if she'd meant it. Jiraiya made sure to secure the apartment before he left.

—Playground in the Leaf Village; Naruto, age 4—

"Hi! My name's Naruto Uzumaki!" the boisterous blonde boy shouted at the other children in the sandbox.

Kushina was sitting on a bench watching her son. His spikey blonde hair reminded her so much of Minato. It had been four years and she still missed him, but his absence hurt a little less. Sandaime had been very generous with their stipend and she hadn't been on a mission since before she was pregnant. She still trained, but she hadn't been in the field in years. Every time she got restless, she would look at Naruto and the restlessness melted. She knew that he needed her.

The other villagers always whispered and avoided him. It was supposed to be an S-ranked secret, but somehow it had leaked to the general populous that Naruto was the kyuubi jinchuuriki. She understood their hatred. It was callous and uninformed, but she understood.

At first, she had challenged the villagers who stared and whispered. But it didn't really help any. Naruto would just have to grow up and prove to them that he wasn't the kyuubi. Her ninja friends, on the other hand, were much easier to persuade. She explained to them that Naruto was just a boy, that being the jinchuuriki didn't mean that he was the kyuubi.

She found out who her true friends were, not that she was surprised at who remained. Mikoto Uchiha was one of them, although her husband wasn't. Shikaku Nara had said, "Troublesome," in an understanding tone. She was never close friends with the Hyuuga, but the Hyuuga were more outraged that she refused to remarry and raised Naruto alone than whether Naruto was kyuubi. Of course, Minato's sole surviving student, "Copy" Kakashi Hatake, didn't care. Kushina asked him to visit, but she found him more often at the memorial stone for the Third Great Ninja War.

She shook herself from her reverie to see that Itachi and Sasuke were playing with Naruto. Sasuke and Naruto were both trying to catch Itachi. They were having so much fun that she barely noticed the ANBU in the tree at the park. She saw Mikoto watching the children play with Itachi. Itachi was already a Chunin and Mikoto had bragged that he was applying to ANBU.

Kushina body-flickered to a branch next to the ANBU. "Are you here for me or Naruto?" she asked. The ANBU just shook his head. Kushina body-flickered back to her position on the bench and continued watching Naruto play.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

A/N: Since a question about pairings was the first review, I'll address it: I haven't decided pairings yet.

I hope people enjoy how this story goes. It won't be super!Naruto (maybe smart!Naruto), but as I've learned after reading a lot of good and many, many bad stories (and HPMOR, which is awesomeness in a can with a side of whipped awesome all served with/by/on a high-priced hooker): "you can't give Harry Potter a light saber and The Force unless you give Voldemort the Death Star." Mixing metaphors is a crime against literacy and I promise that was the last time I will ever do it. That you know of.

One last thing: it'd be nice to get some feedback. I'm gonna keep writing regardless, but if nobody tells me what's good and what sucks, it'll never get better. Cheers.

**Chapter 2**

Naruto was the center of attention, right where he always loved to be. His mother was throwing him a birthday party and all of his friends were invited. He was always trying to make more friends, but the adults in the villages seemed to do something to make sure that other kids stayed away. Very few parents would let their kids get close to Naruto for long.

The only kids his own age in attendance were Sasuke Uchiha and Shikamaru Nara. Sasuke was fun to play with, but he was always going on about what an awesome ninja he would be when he grew up. He always talked about how he would be just like his older brother, Itachi. It took Itachi only a year to graduate the Academy and he already joined ANBU.

Shikamaru was quiet, but he liked to play. He was always trying to teach Naruto to play shogi or Go, but Naruto liked running around more than board games. Still, it was nice to play inside when it rained.

Shikamaru was also friends with Choji Akimichi, but Choji's parents weren't as understanding about the kyuubi incident as Shikamaru's parents. Choji liked Naruto and didn't understand why he couldn't go to the party as well, since Kushina was reputed to cook enough food for even an Akimichi.

It took some doing, but Kushina managed to get Jiraiya-sensei and Kakashi-chan to show up as well. Naruto liked Jiraiya. Whenever Jiraiya was in town, he brought Naruto presents and would spend time helping with pranking the villagers. Jiraiya was especially fond of pranks at the hot springs. Naruto loved to play pranks on the villagers. The villagers generally ignored him, but would sometimes get angry and curse him. Naruto hated being ignored more than being cursed. It made him feel so alone. But the villagers paid attention when Naruto pranked them.

Anytime Kakashi caught him, Kakashi would lecture him about taking things more seriously, but Kakashi was always reading something that Naruto wasn't old enough to read. Kakashi wasn't nearly as fun as Jiraiya-sensei. And Kakashi tried to stop his pranks rather than help. But Kakashi taught Naruto taijutsu. Naruto wasn't terribly skilled, but he still loved to practice.

Kushina made plenty of food. She ate a lot and Naruto ate a lot, so keeping the kitchen well stocked was a requirement. She had a homemade grill and cooked barbeque. There were plenty of chips, drinks, and cakes too. Everyone was having a good time. The kids played while the adults drank adult beverages and chit chatted about current events.

Naruto noticed some of those weird ninja with funny animal masks on the rooftop across from the apartment. And then someone new knocked on the door. Naruto didn't really know anyone else, so he was surprised that someone else would come to his party. "Mom? Did you invite anyone else?" he asked.

"I did invite someone else, but I really didn't think that he'd show. He's a busy man, after all," Kushina replied from the grill.

She left Jiraiya at the grill and went to open the door. Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, bowed and entered. Everyone had some variation of "Hokage-sama" or "Sarutobi-sensei" in shock as the Sandaime entered.

"Hey Old Man. I've never met you before. Who are you?" Naruto asked innocently.

Everyone in the room was stunned into silence at Naruto's bluntness, but the Hokage only chuckled. "Ho ho! We've met before Naruto. I must be keeping myself even busier than I thought if you don't even remember me. I'm Hiruzen Sarutobi," the old man said. "And you should be able to guess my title from my robes and hat."

Naruto frowned. The old man was wearing Hokage robes. Well, the old man seemed nice enough, so he didn't see what the big deal was. Naruto didn't get why everyone was so reverent.

"Nice of you show, 'Old Man,'" Kushina chided. "You must've misplaced the last two birthday invitations I sent."

'If mom talks to him that way, then I'll talk to him that way,' Naruto decided. He went back to playing with his friends, who were both mortified at how he spoke to the most revered ninja in the village. Shikamaru didn't even utter his trademark, "How troublesome." Naruto made a mental note. Knowing what shocked people was always good fodder for pranks.

Kushina, Jiraiya, and Sarutobi gathered around the makeshift grill. Sarutobi said, "Well, it looks like he's healthy."

"Yes," Kushina replied. "He's grown strong. I've been keeping track and he has even more stamina than a normal Uzumaki. Kakashi says that his chakra network is nearly as developed as a low-level chunin. I really wish that the Hyuuga weren't so uptight because I would like to get someone with a byakugan to look at him. But as far as we can tell, everything is just fine."

"Good. Good," Sarutobi muttered. "So he'll be ready to go to the Academy this year?" he asked clearly.

"The war is over, Hokage-sama. I was hoping to let him be a child for a while," Kushina replied.

"Sasuke and Shikamaru are both entering the Academy this year and Naruto should probably stay with his friends," Sarutobi said.

"I suppose if he's to be a ninja anyway, he might as well stay with his friends," Kushina relented.

"Sarutobi-sensei, I would like to remain in the village for a few months when Naruto enters the Academy," Jiraiya finally spoke.

Sarutobi and Kushina were both shocked. Jiraiya was a famous, or infamous, writer and a tremendous asset to have abroad collecting intelligence. Sarutobi said, "If you insist, I can't really stop you, but some of your fans," he eyed Kakashi, "might object to a long hiatus between installments."

Jiraiya nodded. "They'll live. Some things are more important than 'Make-out Tactics, Volume 4,'" he added with a smirk.

Kakashi had been quietly paying attention. He was devastated to hear that his favorite series would be on hold. He had to do something, so he approached the three older nin to speak. "Hokage-sama, Jiraiya-sama, Kushina-sama: if Naruto needs a tutor, I would be happy to assist."

Jiraiya saw through Kakashi immediately. "The part you've left out is, 'if it will help Jiraiya-sama get back to writing,' Kakashi-san."

Kakashi knew that was absolutely the case, but he shrugged. "Well…"

—Naruto's first day at the Ninja Academy—

There were many other children at the Academy that Naruto had seen around town. Many only had one parent. Some had only a father, while others had only a mother. Naruto had never questioned it since it was so common. He quickly found his friends and tried to be as friendly as he could to the other children. He was hoping that the Academy wouldn't be like the playground and that he would have more friends.

He loved Shikamaru and Sasuke like brothers, but Naruto wanted to be friends with everyone. That first day, there were several tests to determine everyone's physical capabilities. But that was only a small part of the day, according to the instructors. There were also textbooks. Reading, writing, math, history, and science were part of the curriculum too.

The instructors for the class were Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei. They both seemed harsh to Naruto, but he was accustomed to new people acting weird around him. They seemed decent, but Naruto devised several pranks that he could play on them both. Just in case they were like some of the villagers.

The physical stuff was Naruto's favorite. He liked being active. Running over obstacles and sparring were the things that he loved the most, even though he wasn't top of the class. Sasuke was the best at sparring and running obstacles. He said that it was because of the genius of the Uchiha, but Naruto was a close second in those two things. With the textbook stuff though, he was dead last.

By the end of the first day, Naruto had discovered that Sasuke was considered a genius by the rest of the class because his family had a long tradition of being awesome ninjas. Itachi was already in ANBU, which was a huge deal in general, but especially because he was so young. The other kids mostly ignored Naruto, but Sasuke and Shikamaru would talk to him, which led to Choji joining.

Choji and Shikamaru both ended up talking to Naruto at lunch, while Sasuke ate quietly beside them all.

"I'm the number one prankster in the village!" Naruto exclaimed proudly. "Nobody can pull pranks like I can!"

"Oh yeah?" Choji replied. "Prove it. Pull a prank now."

"How troublesome," Shikamaru muttered, knowing that Naruto couldn't back down from a challenge, even if he lost.

Naruto inhaled the rest of his lunch because he was always hungry and started sneaking around. The easiest targets for a prank were a group of girls. They seemed to be ignoring the world and whispering about Sasuke. Naruto noticed a stray cat skulking in the bushes and immediately got an idea. He grabbed the cat and petted it, quickly calming the feral beast.

The girls didn't suspect a thing while Naruto held the cat. He tied an orange dye bomb to the cat's collar and brought it over to the group of Sasuke crazed girls. "Excuse me. Does anyone know whose cat this is?" he asked politely holding the cat out into the crowd.

"Naruto, right?" asked one of them.

"Yep. That's me," he replied, smiling.

"Why would we know about some stray cat?" she asked acerbically.

"That's what I thought," Naruto said as he triggered the dye bomb. A cloud of orange dye billowed out of the cat and enveloped all four girls, the cat, and Naruto. Naruto was already wearing his favorite color, so he didn't care about the dye, but the girls' clothes all turned bright orange as well as their faces and hair. Naruto just smiled and set the cat down while the girls were still in shock.

The now boy covered head to toe in orange sat down next to Choji who was laughing hysterically. "That was really mean, Naruto-kun. But you got yourself too, so I guess it wasn't that bad."

Naruto beamed. "See? I told you I'm the number one prankster in the village."

Choji looked to Naruto and said, "Yeah, but those girls are about to murder you."

—Naruto's house, after school—

"You did WHAT?!" his mom screamed.

"It's just dye. It'll wash out," Jiraiya tried calming Kushina.

"But it's his FIRST DAY!" she screamed, exasperated.

Jiraiya's arms were crossed and he was leaning against a wall while Kushina paced, fuming. Naruto just smiled. His mother had a temper, but she always calmed down quickly when he smiled and put his hand behind his head.

He struck the pose that he knew would calm her down and said, "Yeah. I had to show them who the number one prankster is. Choji didn't believe me and the girls were all mean." Kushina calmed down quickly.

'He looks just like Minato. But Minato was so serious at this age,' Kushina thought.

"See? They probably deserved it anyway," Jiraiya said. Kushina glared at Jiraiya.

'Damn,' Naruto thought, 'The old perv is gonna screw this up for me if he doesn't shut up already.' Naruto wasn't sure what "perv" even meant, but he was pretty sure that it applied to Jiraiya.

"Jiraiya-sensei, why don't we work on my homework?" Naruto asked, deflecting as much as he could.

"That sounds like a great idea, kiddo," Jiraiya said as he quickly grabbed Naruto and bolted at Sanin speed out of there before Kushina could kill him with kitchen utensils.

—One month later—

"Aaarrgg! This is taking forever!" exclaimed Naruto. "It's SO boring!"

Jiraiya had been exceedingly patient with Naruto, but he still thought, 'Damn. What I wouldn't give to be on the road doing research. And I would love to see the next wave of kunoichi they'll send to tempt me into divulging village secrets. That's always a good time.'

"Naruto-chan, we talked about this," Kushina cooed. "Some ninja are good at some things and other ninja are good at others. But everyone has to work at it. You have to become good at hard work even if you have a kekkei genkai or you'll never be great."

Sasuke was there too. He figured that passing up the chance to train with a legendary Sanin would just be stupid. And Itachi was out on a mission anyway.

"Even Sasuke won't be a great ninja if he doesn't put in hard work. And he's already the top of your class. But if he doesn't train, if he doesn't put in the effort, he won't get any better," Kushina said again. She must have repeated the lecture a hundred times since Naruto's first day. But she only added the part about the kekkei genkai when Sasuke was around.

Jiraiya nodded in agreement. "Naruto, you can't just skip this stuff because it's hard. This is why I'm sticking around: to teach you how to learn this stuff even though it's boring."

Kakashi was in the window. "Jiraiya-sama, Kushina-sama: I've had an idea about how to improve Naruto's studying ability."

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow and Kushina looked at the Copy-nin who'd been away for months on a mission wondering what this revolutionary new idea could possibly be.

"It struck me that you might be teaching Naruto things out of order," Kakashi continued. "Naruto already has a wealth of chakra. He could probably do a certain jutsu with minimal instruction. It doesn't require much skill at all to use and could significantly multiply Naruto's study time, if my guess is correct."

Jiraiya immediately understood, but it took Kushina a few seconds to understand. Minato had been the brilliant one. Kushina had just worked her tail off, night and day, to try to catch him.

"You're suggesting that we teach him a B-rank jutsu to help Naruto study math?" Jiraiya laughed. "You must REALLY want me to get back to writing!"

Kakashi looked at the floor with his hand behind his head and smiled behind his mask. "No. I was suggesting we teach him the forbidden version of a B-rank jutsu to study math."

'Yes!' Sasuke thought. 'I'll learn something really useful!'

"Sasuke-chan, this is something that you'll have to ask your mother about," Kushina explained as if she'd read his mind. "If you were a genin, then you could decide for yourself, but this isn't something that I'd feel comfortable teaching you."

Sasuke was pissed, but he went home to ask his mother and Itachi about the study-aid jutsu.

"We'll have to work on some other things first, but he'll be a first rate student by next year," Jiraiya said.

—Several months later—

"Okay, Naruto. You've got enough chakra control to try this. You're still dead last in your class, but with this, you'll be able to study at lightning speeds!" Jiraiya exclaimed dramatically.

"Show me already, Pervy-sensei!" Naruto asked excitedly.

"It's called 'Shadow Clone Jutsu,'" Jiraiya explained. "Watch." He made the single hand-sign for the jutsu and poofed into two Jiraiyas. "See?" they said in unison.

"Jiraiya-sensei, how does that help?" Naruto was confused.

"First, learn the jutsu. Then we'll explain," the two Jiraiyas s

It didn't take long for Naruto to figure out how to channel his chakra into the jutsu. His first successful shadow clone filled the entire study room with clones. There were legs and arms everywhere, mashing everyone against walls and floor. Naruto couldn't get the exact number of clones right, but he could easily make too many instead of too few.

After several practice runs, Jiraiya took Naruto to the library. Jiraiya checked out as many books on speed-reading as the library had. "Naruto, Make a shadow clone for each of these books. Then, each shadow clone will read a different one of them."

Naruto didn't understand, but did as he was instructed. He was still at the bottom of the class and wanted badly to improve. His mother had said that as long as he passed, his ranking didn't matter, but he wanted to show everyone that he could be good at things too.

After about three hours of reading, most of the clones had finished their books and were practicing the speed reading techniques at the end. Jiraiya announced to the gaggle of Narutos, "Okay. Now, disperse the clones, one at a time."

Naruto tried, but ended up dispersing them all at once. He still didn't quite get the big deal about them. Jiraiya picked up a book at random and asked Naruto about it. Naruto answered the question correctly and Jiraiya picked up another book. And another. Until Naruto figured it out.

"Everything the clones learn, I remember when they disperse!" he said excitedly.

"Now you're getting it, kiddo," Jiraiya responded. "Every day, after school, I'm going to have ten or twenty books ready for you to read, starting with these books on speed reading. You are going to be so good at academics after just a few weeks that they're gonna think you're a genius." And then he muttered, "Or cheating," under his breath and thought, 'Which he kind of is.'

—Taijutsu training with Kushina after school, several weeks later—

"Why is Jiraiya-sensei leaving?" Naruto asked as he threw a wild punch.

Kushina easily blocked it saying, "He has important work to do."

Naruto tried a kick. "Writing his pervy novels?"

"How do you know how pervy his novels are?" Kushina asked, knocking Naruto to the ground.

"That's what EVERYONE says!" Naruto exclaimed as the ground knocked the wind out of him.

Kushina sat down on the ground next to Naruto. "There's something that we need to discuss, Naruto."

"Okay," Naruto was worried. His mother had never discussed anything seriously with him before.

"It's about when you become a genin," she said. "Have you thought about who you'd like to be teamed up with and why?"

Naruto thought for a few moments before answering. "I'd love to be with friends, but I wouldn't mind making new ones."

"Naruto, I've seen how the Hokage works. I can guess what the teams will be. Some of them are already set, but some of them aren't. The ones that aren't are going to depend on Academy grades," she explained.

"So?" Naruto asked.

"Sasuke is first in your class. If Jiraiya and Kakashi hadn't helped you study, you'd be last. Then you and he would end up on the same genin team. But your grades are improving rapidly now, so that probably won't happen."

"So?" Naruto asked again.

"Well, you've always worked extra hard to compete with Sasuke. The competition between you two is good. You are both becoming strong quickly. If you want to be on the same genin team as Sasuke, you're going to have to make sure that your grades are dead last."

"What?!" Naruto was floored. He'd have to do badly on purpose if he wanted to get stronger? What the hell?

"I think you two would both get much stronger if you continued to compete with each other. The only reason I got to be as strong as I am and your father got as strong as he was is because we had someone to compete with," Kushina said with a far off look.

Naruto grumbled. He liked being good at school. Doing badly on purpose was not going to be easy, but if he could get stronger, he supposed that would be worth it. Naruto realized that it was the first time he'd ever heard his mother mention his father.

"Who was my father?" Naruto asked innocently.

"He was the only man I ever loved," Kushina said evasively. 'Naruto will probably figure it out eventually. He looks so much like Minato. I don't want Naruto to get a big head about being the son of a Hokage. The Hyuuga and the Uchiha have big enough heads for the entire village. But it's still an S-ranked village secret and the Hokage would have to approve disclosing it, even to Naruto,' she thought. 'Not that that would stop me.'

—Two years later, the morning after the Uchiha Massacre—

"What are those alarm bells?" Naruto shouted. He had spent at least an hour a day with twelve clones in the library every day since he learned that trick and knew everything publicly available. Some things he'd had to read twice, but he found that knowing the answers to things made life much easier than not knowing. He hated not knowing almost as much as he hated being ignored.

"I don't know. I don't know," his mother said, still shocked. "Naruto, go to school. I have to speak with some people," she said distantly.

So Naruto went to school. Sasuke or Shikamaru might know something. Itachi was in ANBU and he was probably part of whatever it was.

"Shikamaru, do you know what's going on?" he asked as soon as he spotted the pineapple haired boy.

"I heard my father talking about it. Itachi went insane and killed all of the Uchiha except Sasuke. Everyone," Shikamaru informed Naruto.

Naruto couldn't fathom it. Itachi had been such a nice older kid. He didn't seem like a psycho killer at all. He hadn't been around lately, but Naruto figured that was just because he and Sasuke were in the Academy and Itachi was out on missions.

"What's going to happen to Sasuke? Is he okay?" Naruto interrogated.

"I don't know. That's all I heard before I had to go to school," Shikamaru replied.

"That's so terrible," Choji said emptily. He wasn't even eating, he was so sad.

The teachers came in with solemn expressions. "Class, as some of you may have heard, there was an incident last night involving the Uchiha clan. Itachi Uchiha suddenly and without warning went on a rampage, killing everyone except Sasuke Uchiha. His motives and whereabouts are unknown, but the village has labeled him a missing nin. There are reports that he fled the village. There will be no class today while we try to get answers."

The two chunin left the stunned class. Naruto didn't know where to go. His mother wasn't going to be home and she was always there to let him in after school. He didn't like wandering the streets because of all the weird stares and occasional angry mobs from the villagers, but he felt like he had to do something. The only person that he could think of to find was the Hokage.

The other students went home, but Naruto charged straight into the Hokage tower. The staff at the tower was so shocked by the boy that they didn't think to stop him. They all knew that he was the jinchuuriki and some of them were terrified of what might happen. Some of them just wanted to see what the notorious mischief-maker was up to. And a few hoped he'd piss off the Hokage and get himself killed.

Naruto burst into the Hokage's office. Jiraiya was already inside as was his mother. "What the hell is going on, Old Man?" Naruto yelled.

Normally, Sarutobi enjoyed the high-energy antics of the blonde haired youth, but today he had too much to deal with. "I'm having a meeting about a massacre and I don't have time right now, Naruto. Please leave."

Kushina went over to Naruto to shuffle him out of the office, but Naruto wouldn't back down. "Dammit, I only have a few friends and one of them just lost his entire clan. At least tell me where he is!"

"He's in the hospital. He was under a genjutsu for a very long time, Naruto. He needs to recover," his mother explained.

"Well, what's going to happen to him now? Is he going to stay all alone at the clan's estate?" Naruto persisted.

"He'll get an apartment and live with the other orphans until he graduates," Kushina went on.

Naruto was horrified. Orphans lived in a crummy, dilapidated building. He'd seen it before. It was one of those places filled with people ready to chase him and curse him on sight, if his mother or Jiraiya weren't around.

"Why? Why does he have to be alone?" Naruto shouted. And then he uttered a plea that nobody had even considered. "Why doesn't he just live with us?"

Everyone stopped. The Hokage looked at Kushina. Jiraiya looked at Kushina. Naruto looked at Kushina. Kushina blinked at Naruto. She couldn't think of any reason why he couldn't. She'd been friends with his mother for years and he'd been playing with Naruto since before they could walk. Sasuke didn't have any family to object.

She turned from Naruto to look at the Hokage. "Why can't he just live with us?" she asked the old man.

The Hokage blinked. Twice. "It would be better than the apartments," he finally said. "You can talk to him when he wakes up.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

A/N: Wow. I messed up a little on the last chapter and put too much in. Water over the falls now though, so I'll just try not to screw up again.

So why Naruto isn't a super-powered S-ranked badass: he's still dealing with having the body of a child. There are limits, even with kyuubi chakra bleeding into his system and having the equivalent of several doctorates, to what an eight or ten or twelve year old can accomplish without further instruction.

Leave a review of what you like and what you don't so that I can improve. And don't get too accustomed to semi-daily updates. I have free time now, but that's sure to change. Enjoy it while it lasts.

**Chapter 3**

—Hidden Leaf Hospital, Sasuke's room—

Naruto and Kushina were in the room, watching the unconscious Sasuke twitch in his sleep. He was obviously having horrible nightmares. Sasuke rolled over and opened his eyes.

"What are you doing here?" he asked the two Uzumakis. '_Why, Itachi? Why?'_

"Well, Sasuke, since you don't have anywhere else to stay, I volunteered to take you in. At least until you graduate from the Academy," Kushina said.

"You're not my mother. You're not family. Go away," Sasuke said.

"As you know, Itachi killed all of your family. So I'm taking you in. Because Mikoto was my friend and Uzumakis take care of their friends. And you don't have anywhere else to go, Sasuke," Kushina said, leaving no room for argument.

Sasuke rolled over.

"Mom, does he even have a choice?" Naruto asked.

"Well, he could run away. But then he'd never finish training to become a ninja. I don't know if that matters to him right now though," Kushina responded.

Sasuke growled and said, "Fine. I'll live with you."

—Naruto's house—

"This is going to be hard, isn't it?" Naruto asked.

"We've been studying with Shadow Clones for over two years, Naruto. Faking it at school is one thing, but faking it at home is going to be nearly impossible," Kushina replied.

"Should we even try?" Naruto asked honestly.

"I don't know. I think honesty is the best way to go with your friends," and then she thought, '_he's gained decades of knowledge in only two years, but he's still a child. I have to remind myself that even when he acts older, he's still a child. Living a life and reading about it in books are two different things._'

"Do you think he'll be able to trust us?" Naruto interrupted his mother's thoughts.

"I don't know. He idolized Itachi. What did the psychology book say about betrayal?"

"It said that it was a hard thing to recover from."

"And what about torture? And brainwashing? You don't know what that genjutsu was that Sasuke was trapped in," Kushina explained. "And who do you think did it to him?"

"Holy crap," Naruto whispered. "Itachi must have done that to Sasuke. But WHY?"

"We don't know. We may never know. Maybe Sasuke knows, but he might not want to share it with us."

"Okay. Honesty was your first instinct, right? It was mine too. One of the psychology books said that the best way to gain someone's trust was to simply BE honest with them, so our instincts can't be too far off the mark. We should tell him at dinner. Ichiraku Ramen?"

"I'll pick it up. Make some shadow clones to clean up and make space for another bed. Sasuke is going to need a bed of his own. But until we figure out what he needs, get a futon for yourself and put clean sheets on your bed for Sasuke"

"Yes, mom!" Five shadow clones poofed into the room and began cleaning.

—Hidden Leaf Hospital, front desk—

"Sasuke, we're going to have dinner at our house. I hope that you like ramen, because it's all I had time for tonight," Kushina explained to the quiet boy.

"Whatever," Sasuke grumbled. '_I will kill Itachi. In order to kill Itachi, I must learn as much as I can. In order to learn as much as I can, I must stay with these people,_' Sasuke thought, repeatedly.

Kushina walked with Sasuke down the street to the apartment. "Sasuke, I wondered what you might want from your house. We won't be able to get inside for a few days, so you'll be sleeping in Naruto's bed while he sleeps on the floor. Don't worry, I made sure that you have fresh sheets," she said to the despondent boy.

"Whatever," Sasuke grumbled. His thoughts were the same, but he paused when Kushina told him that Naruto would be on the floor. '_She's putting her own son on the floor instead of me? What the hell?_'

"And I want you to start training with us. I know that the Uchiha have their own secret techniques, but you might be surprised at what I can teach you."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted. '_What could she possibly teach me? Naruto is dead last in the class. He's a total moron._'

Kushina walked silently the rest of the way, only stopping once at a flower shop to place an order. She thought, '_It's almost Minato's birthday. I don't know if I can hide the trip to the graveyard from Naruto anymore. He hasn't asked about his father again, but I know he's curious. I wonder when he'll figure it out._'

They continued walking to the apartment where Kushina absently unlocked the door and ushered Sasuke in. There was a futon on the floor with blankets and a pillow set on it. Naruto was already setting the table and there was at least ten gallons of ramen from Ramen Ichiraku. Naruto looked up, bowed, and said,

"Sasuke-san! Welcome! Please sit and have some ramen!" Naruto motioned to the table.

'_When did he learn manners? Something is off here,_' Sasuke thought. He narrowed his eyes at Naruto and said, "When did you learn manners?"

"Well," he started, but Kushina interrupted.

"Sasuke, we have something to tell you. Please sit down," Kushina said gently.

"Naruto has been failing at the Academy on purpose," Kushina explained.

"Are you serious? Why would he do that? Why would you let him do that?" Sasuke questioned.

"I'm guessing that you already know that genin get assigned to teams when they graduate the Academy, but do you know how the teams are formed?" Kushina asked.

"The Hokage assigns them," Sasuke responded, sure that it didn't matter. Naruto was already slurping down soup and the noise was mildly distracting.

"Yes. But he assigns them on several factors. If any teams have historically done very well, the Hokage will try to recreate it with a new generation. Ino-Shika-Cho, for example. Beyond that, the Hokage tries to create balanced teams. When I was a genin, the lowest scoring student and the highest scoring student were paired with someone from the middle. And every year since then, the Hokage has done it that way. If you are the highest scoring student and Naruto is the lowest scoring student," Kushina trailed.

"Then we'll end up on the same genin team," Sasuke finished. He looked at Naruto and said, "You want to be on the same team that badly? Why?"

Naruto looked down from his noodles and said, "We've always been friends, Sasuke. I wanted to make sure that I knew at least one person on my genin team."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the blonde. "Just how smart are you?"

Naruto finished his second bowl of ramen before answering. Kushina had begun devouring her ramen with as much gusto as Naruto had.

"I'm not any smarter, Sasuke. I've just learned a whole lot more than I let on," Naruto explained.

"How much more? What do you know?" Sasuke interrogated.

"Math, history, literature, biology, physics, psychology, tea ceremony, smithing in theory, chemistry, poisons, cooking, basic chakra theory, basic battle tactics, human anatomy, and ummm," his face blushed, "pervy stuff."

"Naruto!" Kushina shouted.

"I'm being honest!" Naruto shouted in return.

"How did you even get any of that material?" She shouted, disapprovingly.

"We covered henge in class," he said sheepishly.

"We're going to have to talk about that, Naruto. And it isn't going to be comfortable for either of us," she said as she slurped more ramen.

"How? How could you possibly know all of that?" Sasuke said, shocked. For once, he wasn't thinking about Itachi. "I don't believe it."

Naruto looked at him and did a hand seal that Sasuke didn't recognize. There was a poof and then there were five of him. They huddled briefly then each one henged into a different character and began performing a scene from a play that Sasuke barely recognized.

After the scene played out, Sasuke asked, "How do clones and illusions help you learn this? What's the point?"

"They aren't regular clones," Naruto explained. "They're Shadow Clones. They take enormous amounts of chakra, but I have tons of chakra. And when they disperse, you remember everything that the clone experienced. Plus, using them almost constantly builds up my chakra level. I haven't actually compared, but I should have more chakra right now than most jonin. Two years of studying about 50 hours every day. I finished the Academy curriculum after the first six months."

"This is your secret study-aid jutsu?" Sasuke asked. "Let me try." And he started forming the seals that Naruto had used.

Kushina reached over and stopped Sasuke. "Later. You'll need to build up your chakra level first or you'll exhaust yourself and end up back in the hospital. We'll start work on that tomorrow. For now, just eat. You have school tomorrow."

—Ninja Academy, the next day—

"…Naruto?" Iruka-sensei asked.

Naruto hadn't been paying attention. He was thinking about one of the books on torture recovery he'd read. He was still concerned about Sasuke.

"Huh?" he said. He didn't really have to act distracted. It was boring stuff. Stuff that he'd covered long ago. He was genuinely bored.

"Tell the class what chakra is, Naruto," Mizuki-sensei said, annoyed.

"It's a combination of physical and spiritual energy that ninja use," Naruto rattled off without thinking. Sasuke elbowed him in the ribs and whispered,

"Idiot!"

Naruto thought, '_Oh shit! I'm supposed to be dead last. What if they pick up on the charade? Gotta cover!_' "And chakra is how you do cool jutsu like fireballs!" he exclaimed, excitedly. The reality was that he thought fireballs were cool and he was excited to try them, but he knew that he needed a strong foundation in the basics before he started learning those things. And he didn't know anyone who would test his chakra affinity, so he didn't even know if he COULD do a fireball. But mostly, nobody would teach an academy student anything useful like that. Even Jiraiya-sensei and his mom told him to master the basics first.

Mizuki-sensei responded, "Yes, Naruto. But chakra has many uses aside from just ninjutsu. There's also genjutsu, taijutsu applications, and medical jutsus." Naruto tuned him out again. One of his clones was in the library reading up on what little was available on genjutsu. He hoped the clone would finish soon and disperse so that he would have something else to think about.

Shikamaru watched Naruto and Sasuke's brief exchange. He had gotten very good at analysis. His father was still better, but he was very good. Sasuke and Naruto were up to something.

During lunch, Shikamaru made sure that he was alone with Naruto and Sasuke. "Okay. What's going on?"

Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other. "If I slip up again, he'll probably figure it out anyway," Naruto said.

"You can't un-ring a bell, Naruto," Sasuke said.

"Shikamaru, you can't tell anyone. Not even Choji. Not until we're all at least genin. Okay?" Naruto asked his friend.

"It's your secret. If you can't manage to keep it, it's not my fault. But I won't tell anyone," Shikamaru responded. "It'd be too troublesome."

"I've been tanking academics," Naruto confessed.

"Why?" Shikamaru couldn't figure it out. Naruto loved getting attention and being the top of the class would certainly have gotten him attention.

"If I'm top of the class or number two, then there's no way that I'd be on the same genin team as Sasuke," Naruto responded.

He liked Naruto and wanted to be on the same team as him. But he had also been friends with Ino and Choji practically since they were born. He wondered how the genin teams were assigned.

"You're going to be teamed up with Ino and Choji. Sasuke is my only other friend. I don't dislike any of the other kids, but it would just be easier to be on the same team as Sasuke," Naruto explained.

Shikamaru looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "Easier to pretend that you don't know anything and barely pass any of the tests than to just tell the Hokage that these are the lengths you are going to in order to ensure that you are paired up as genin?"

Naruto looked at Shikamaru. "When you put it like that, it sounds like the Hokage might actually listen instead of just doing what he thinks is best. This way is much more likely to actually work," he said with a smirk.

Shikamaru sighed. "Telling would be too troublesome."

"It's just until we're genin, Shikamaru," Naruto assured his friend. "Then I won't have to pretend to be totally clueless."

"Do you even care who else is on your team?" Shikamaru asked.

Naruto shrugged but Sasuke said harshly, "Someone who won't slow me down."

Naruto said, "I don't actually care. It'll probably be a girl, just by the numbers. I just hope it doesn't turn into some hopeless love triangle like in stories."

—Naruto's house, several years later, but a few months before Academy graduation exams—

"You only have enough chakra to for eight shadow clones, Sasuke. Your chakra level is improving, but I'm concerned that you have ignored some areas of study. You shouldn't focus completely on battle skills. You need to keep up on the other stuff as well or you'll never be good at anything else," Kushina admonished Sasuke.

Sasuke's bed and a few other things were in with Naruto's stuff in one room and Naruto was reading the chakra theory book again.

"What use will they be against Itachi? What if he comes back to finish the job? I don't need to know any of that," Sasuke replied calmly.

"And what about if you stop Itachi? What will you do then? Do you think that you'll only ever be given combat missions? We have been at peace for over a decade. Broaden your horizons, boy! There's more to life than fighting," Kushina shouted.

"Fine," Sasuke said, grudgingly picking up a book of poetry that Naruto always seemed to enjoy.

Naruto felt a clone disperse. He had gotten his hands on an old enemy bingo book from the Third Great Ninja War. Naruto looked at Sasuke and decided to do something to cheer him up. Something that would probably spark a conversation with at least his mother and the Hokage.

After Kushina left, Naruto said, "Hey, Sasuke. Do you have enough chakra for a shadow clone right now? I want to do something and I'd like your help."

Sasuke looked at Naruto, annoyed that he was interrupted. "Fine. Let's just hurry up."

Naruto and Sasuke went out to Naruto's secret hiding spot behind a hardware store. Naruto grabbed buckets of paint and handed two to Sasuke. "We're going to make a statement to the village, Sasuke." He smiled evilly.

Sasuke was keeping watch while Naruto painted graffiti and swirls on the first three Hokages' faces. He left the fourth untouched. With Sasuke on watch, the pranksters spotted the chunin before they were close enough to see the boys.

"Naruto, incoming. Let's go," Sasuke said calmly.

"It's no fun if they don't know it was me, Sasuke. Get out of here. I'll be fine," Naruto said.

"You'll get in trouble, Naruto. Come on. Don't mess around. Let's go."

"It's the fastest way to see the Hokage. I have questions that only he can answer. I need you to tell my mother that I did this to talk to him. Please," Naruto pleaded.

"Fine," Sasuke said as the clone dispersed.

Two chunin approached and Naruto said, "Well, let's get this over with. Take me to the old man."

Naruto, flanked by the two chunin, went straight to the Hokage tower where Sarutobi was waiting, smoking his pipe. "Leave us. I want to speak with Naruto alone," the old man said to the chunin.

"Mom should be here soon. I don't want to have this conversation twice. But tell me: am I right?"

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow under his hat. "Right about what, Naruto?"

"Minato Namikaze was my father." Naruto brought out a beaten and weathered book with one page dog-eared and tossed it to the Hokage. It was the bingo book that his clone had been reading earlier from the Third Great Ninja War.

"There isn't much personal information about him in any of the history books, but I found this earlier today. He's sixteen in the picture. I look just like him. When I first saw it, I thought, 'Why am I in a bingo book from so long ago?'"

Kushina arrived at the top of the tower where Naruto and Sarutobi were talking. Sasuke had told her that Naruto was seeing the Hokage and she'd seen the graffiti on the monument. She figured that Naruto knew about his father.

"Naruto, are you all right?" she asked.

Naruto just looked hurt when he faced her. "Why was it such a big secret? Couldn't you have just told me?"

"There's more to it than that, Naruto," Sarutobi spoke up. "He wanted you to have a normal life."

Kushina looked at Sarutobi as if she wanted to kill him. "He wanted Naruto to be a hero. I wanted him to have a normal life."

Naruto looked at his mother. "What?"

"I knew that you would have to grow up to become a great shinobi. That it would hard and lonely. But I want you to have friends. I want you to have fun and enjoy life. I want you to know love. How could you do that if you thought that you had to live up to Minato? How fair would that have been, to put such pressure on you?" Kushina started tearing up. "It would be too cruel." She started sobbing, letting it all out for the first time in thirteen years. "I couldn't do that to you. You're all I have."

Naruto had never seen his mother cry. He didn't know what to do, how to respond. He wanted to be mad. He wanted to be pissed that they kept something like this from him. But seeing her in tears, he just couldn't be angry. It hurt him to watch her suffer and to know that it was because of him. His childish outburst. His stupid mouth.

"Naruto," Sarutobi interrupted. "This was a secret that was meant to protect you. Are you familiar with the Hyuuga clan?"

Naruto turned. "Hinata is in my class, but I don't really know much about them. How is this relevant?"

"Just pay attention. Several years ago, a rival village sent ninja to collect the Hyuuga's kekkei genkai. They kidnapped the heir to the clan and tried to blackmail the clan head. The heir, Hinata, was only four at the time. She was a target because of her clan. Because of her affiliation with the Hyuuga. We made sure that any enemies that Minato had wouldn't target you by hiding your affiliation." Sarutobi tapped his pipe and took another drag before continuing. "It wouldn't be wise to advertise your lineage because you only have yourself, your mother, and now Sasuke Uchiha for protection.

"Kushina is a formidable kunoichi," he turned to Kushina, "who should come back to active duty, by the way," and turned back to Naruto, "but there is only so much that she can do if it gets out. You should be safe at home, but you never know who will decide to sell this information to a potential enemy."

Kushina had been composing herself after her emotional breakdown, but she looked up at the Hokage and choked out, "I want his things back."

Sarutobi thought, '_I should have known she would._' "You know that I can only give you his civilian things. His ninja gear is sealed in the vault."

She composed herself. Her voice was hard now. "That's all I care about anyway. And there is a kunai as well. Just the one. It has sentimental value."

Sarutobi nodded, leaving the two alone atop the tower, and prepared to have Minato's things removed from the storage vault.

Naruto looked at his mother and said, "I'm sorry for hurting you, mom."

Kushina just hugged him silently.

—Naruto's house, that evening—

"Why are you putting up pictures of you and the Fourth Hokage, Kushina-san?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto looked at Sasuke. He picked up a picture of Kushina and Minato from their Academy graduation and put it next to his face. He motioned between his face and the picture of Minato.

"No way!" Sasuke exclaimed in shock. Naruto nodded.

"We only ever mention it here though. Nobody else can know. Although, some of the other Leaf Ninja will probably figure it out eventually, if they haven't already figured it out. But we don't have to help them by advertising," Naruto said.

'_I wonder what other secrets we don't know. How will I know when I'm ready to face Itachi? I have to be sure or I'm screwed,_' Sasuke thought. '_Living here has gotten me at least as far as I saw Itachi get with certain techniques, but without my sharingan I'll never touch him. I have to figure out how to awaken it._'


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

A/N: I've been looking forward to this chapter. This is where some of the changes start to get obvious and the similarities are just there to highlight the differences. Plus, I get to try writing action, which is still new for me. I hope you like the action, but if you don't I'll just work harder next time.

As always, please let me know what's good and what's bad. Or it'll never get better.

**Chapter 4**

"Naruto! Pay attention!" Iruka-sensei shouted.

"Huh?" Naruto turned to the chunin instructor.

"You have to do the clone jutsu," Mizuki-sensei said, expecting the blonde child to fail.

Naruto idly did the hand signs and made the requisite three basic clones. It had taken him months of practice to do a basic academy clone instead of a shadow clone, but he'd finally gotten it down.

"You pass," Mizuki was disappointed. '_The brat is supposed to fail, dammit. He hasn't made a single clone in practice, let alone three. How can I manipulate him if he passes? Crap. I'll have to think of some other way to take revenge on that damned kyuubi._'

Naruto had gotten the bare minimum correct on the written test to pass and he needed to pass all three practical tests in order to graduate. He and Sasuke had long since mastered the practical skills to the point that they didn't even need to use hand signs anymore. The two had even practiced using them in their taijutsu sparring sessions. But the test didn't call for that level of skill and showing off wouldn't help his goals.

Iruka returned Naruto's contagious smile. '_Whatever happened thirteen years ago, Naruto isn't the kyuubi. He's just not that psychotic._'

The students who passed that final test received headbands with the leaf symbol with instructions to return in the morning for assignments. Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, and some pink-haired girl went out to celebrate. Sasuke didn't want to, but neither did Shikamaru. Choji and Ino convinced Shikamaru to come out, while Naruto convinced Sasuke to go. Naruto didn't know what the deal was with the pink-haired girl, but she and Ino were constantly fighting over something.

'Hi! I'm Naruto. Who are you?" he asked.

"I know who you are, moron. We're in the same class. You're always playing pranks on everyone and I can't believe you actually passed," the pink-haired girl said with venom.

"Oh come on! Have a sense of humor! You can't be that mad," Naruto replied. Pink hair was definitely exotic and he had just started to notice things like that on girls.

The pink-haired girl merely ignored him and walked next to Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun, I'm so glad that you decided to celebrate with us," the girl cooed.

'_Are you kidding me? She likes Sasuke? Too bad for her, he's not into romance at all. That time I showed him one of Ero-sensei's books was hilarious though,_' Naruto mused.

Naruto went over to Ino and said, "Hi Ino. What do you feel like tonight? Choji probably wants barbecue."

"Shut up, moron. I'm trying to listen to Sasuke," Ino replied coldly.

'_Oh, COME ON! Is every girl in the village obsessed with him or is someone playing a massive joke on me?_' Naruto thought. '_Screw it. I'll just focus on becoming Hokage. That'll teach them for pulling this kind of joke on me._'

The group was stopped by a man about fifty years old with strange markings on his face and long, spikey, white hair.

"This year's graduating class, huh? Who've we got here?" Jiraiya asked.

Shikamaru bowed and said, "It's an honor, Jiraiya-sama. I am Shikamaru Nara. This is Choji Akimichi, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, Ino Yamanaka, and Naruto—"

"Hey, Ero-sensei! How's the latest book?" Naruto interrupted with a smile.

Sakura shouted, "You can't talk to one of the legendary sannin like that, you moron!"

Jiraiya chuckled. "You're absolutely right, Sakura-chan, right? He should be more respectful of his elders."

"Shut it, Ero-sensei. Or I'll tell them about that time you took me to the hot springs and—" Jiraiya clapped a hand over Naruto's mouth smiling nervously.

"The class clown/moron KNOWS Jiraiya-sama?" Sakura sputtered.

'_And has blackmail material on a sannin. Weird,_' Shikamaru thought.

Sasuke maintained his usual calm demeanor, but everyone else was shocked into silence.

"Let me buy you all dinner," Jiraiya said, keeping his hands firmly wrapped around Naruto's mouth.

Choji was the first and most eager to reply, "We would be honored, Jiraiya-sama," with a bow and a smile in his eyes.

—At the barbecue restaurant—

Jiraiya emptied his wallet paying for a meal that included both Naruto and Choji. Naruto wouldn't tell anyone how he knew Jiraiya and Jiraiya just kept saying, "We met a long, long time ago."

The group of freshly minted genin and one sannin left later than anyone anticipated, so Jiraiya offered to make sure everyone made it home without incident. Sasuke and Naruto were the last of the group with Jiraiya.

"Sasuke-kun, where are you staying?" Jiraiya asked.

"He's staying with us. Which you'd know, if you'd come around more often, Ero-sensei," Naruto replied.

Jiraiya winced. "I'm sorry, Naruto. But I had important research to do," Jiraiya lied. '_I wish I didn't have to lie about that._'

The three walked into the apartment and Jiraiya stopped when he noticed the pictures. "I see. You know about Minato then."

Kushina punched Jiraiya hard enough to knock him through the closed door and into the opposite wall. "Hello, Jiraiya-sensei," she said through the hole in the door, smiling. "Next time, please tell me that you are going to be keeping my son and nephew out late so that I don't worry." She turned to the two and wrapped them in a big hug, "Congratulations! You both made it! I knew you would."

'_I can't believe I'm used to this kind of emotional outburst. An Uchiha would never have shown this little self-control._' Sasuke thought, but he didn't complain.

Jiraiya picked himself up and entered the apartment again. '_I guess I'll talk to Kushina in the morning. Damn, but those kids can eat._'

—Hidden Leaf Ninja Academy, the next morning—

"Team seven, led by Kakashi Hatake: Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Naruto Uzumaki," Iruka said. Kakashi waved at the three.

'_The only other sharingan user left in the village. Perfect,_' Sasuke thought.

'_How awesome is this? Kakashi is going to be my jonin sensei!_' Naruto thought.

'_I'm on Sasuke's team! I'll win his heart for sure!_' Sakura thought.

"Meet me on the roof," Kakashi said as he thought, '_I really hope that they pass. I don't want to fail Minato-sensei's son._'

The three genin went out to the roof where they waited for Kakashi. He didn't show up immediately and Sakura started to get restless.

"Where is this guy? How long are we going to have to wait?" Sakura complained.

"Sakura-chan, please be more patient. I'm pretty sure that I know where Kakashi-sensei is right now and he'll get here when he's ready," Naruto admonished the girl.

'_When did he get so mature?_' Sakura thought.

'_Naruto knows "Copy" Kakashi too? Who else does he know?_' Sasuke thought.

"Naruto! Don't think that because we've met before that I'll let you get away with anything!" Kakashi said sternly.

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said, startled.

"Now that you're all here, we should all introduce ourselves. Start off by telling everyone your name, your hobbies, your dreams, and your goals," Kakashi said. "Sakura-chan, was it? You first."

"Well, can you show us what you mean, Kakashi-sensei. I'm not sure I understand what you want," Sakura said.

"Okay. My name is Kakashi Hatake. I have many hobbies, but I like to read. My dreams died. My goal is to make sure that you are all worthy of being ninja of the Leaf. Your turn, Sakura-chan."

The pink-haired girl was a little stunned at how jaded the jonin's answers seemed, but collected herself after a moment. "My name is Sakura Haruno. My hobbies include flower arranging and," she mumbled something that only Kakashi managed to hear, "My dream is to win the love of a certain someone. My goal is to be noticed by a certain someone," she blushed. Profusely.

Naruto rolled his eyes. '_So much for avoiding romantic entanglements,_' he thought.

"I'll go next. My name is Naruto Uzumaki. My hobbies include learning everything about everything and eating delicious food like ramen. My dream is to become an even greater Hokage than the Fourth. My goals are to help my teammates and to be acknowledged by the village," Naruto said striking a determined pose.

"Since when do you learn anything, idiot?" Sakura said incredulously.

"You'd be surprised," Sasuke said, rolling his eyes. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I don't have any hobbies. I don't have any dreams. My goal is to grow strong enough to beat and capture or kill a certain man," Sasuke said.

"It's Itachi," Naruto whispered to Kakashi.

"Shut up, Naruto!" Sasuke screamed.

"You think he doesn't already know? That was for Sakura," Naruto replied, winking to her.

Kakashi just looked at the three genin and smiled. '_They're so young. They're lucky that we aren't at war. There will be plenty of time for them to grow up._'

"Okay. That was great. I'm glad we had this little talk, but you should know that you aren't officially genin yet. There's still one more test that you have to take and if you don't pass, you'll have to go back to the academy," Kakashi explained.

The three genin were silent, waiting for the jonin to explain.

"Meet me at training ground seventeen tomorrow at eight o'clock. It's going to be extremely physical, so make sure that you don't eat anything for breakfast. You don't want to throw up. See you tomorrow," he smiled and waved before a puff of smoke replaced him and he was gone.

Naruto turned to his new team, frowned, and said, "That isn't right."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"If it's going to be that physically demanding, we should eat only certain types of food that will make sure that we have energy, but won't take long to digest, like fruits and vegetables," Naruto explained.

"How do you know that? You failed biology," Sakura said.

"Yeah. On purpose," Sasuke said. "Stamina-freak here knows more about nutrition than most doctors."

"What!? How can you defend him, Sasuke?" Sakura shouted.

"Because I've seen it. I've been living with him since the massacre. He'd have graduated years ago, if his mother would have let him," Sasuke explained.

"No. That would make him some kind of genius. There's just no way," Sakura tried to reconcile what she'd seen of Naruto at the academy with a super-genius who knew so much and she just couldn't do it.

"Not a genius, Sakura-chan. Just determined," Sasuke said cryptically.

"I'll tell you all about it after we pass that test tomorrow, Sakura-chan," Naruto reassured.

'_Sasuke-kun trusts the idiot? I don't know about this, but I guess if Sasuke-kun trusts him, I'll trust him too,_' Sakura thought.

"Oh, shit. Kakashi already knows," Naruto paled. "It was his idea in the first place," Naruto continued.

Sasuke and Sakura both stared at him.

—Training Ground Seventeen, the next morning—

"Sakura-chan, did you eat breakfast like I explained?" Naruto asked as she arrived.

"Even though Kakashi-sensei said not to eat anything, yes. I ate some fruit, Naruto." She had to admit that she felt much better than if she hadn't eaten anything.

The three waited for several hours alone at the training ground. Naruto and Sasuke argued about training while they waited, but Sasuke refused to waste energy before the test so Naruto practiced taijutsu by himself.

'_When did his taijutsu get so good?_' Sakura thought as she watched Naruto practice. '_His moves were never that clean at the academy. Just what the hell is going on here?_' she wondered.

"I've failed over twenty teams," Kakashi said calmly, perched on a post. "Are you that confident in your abilities, Naruto?"

"I got bored, Kakashi-sensei. But I'm pretty confident too," he responded.

"Well, is everyone ready for the test?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes!" the genin responded enthusiastically.

Kakashi raised two bells and explained, "Your test is to get these bells from me. There are only two bells though, so only two of you can pass."

The genin were all shocked at that.

"You'll have to come at me with everything you've got. Don't hold back or there's no way you'll be able to pass."

Naruto ran at the jonin, trying to tackle him immediately, but Kakashi wasn't there and Naruto's tackle went through empty space.

"I didn't say 'go' yet, Naruto," Kakashi wagged a finger at Naruto.

"Then say 'go' already," Naruto grumbled as he stood up.

"Go!" Kakashi said.

Sakura jumped behind some trees. Sasuke did the same, but left behind a shadow clone and two regular clones. Naruto just swarmed the entire open space with dozens of shadow clones while he moved around.

"You want to face me head-on?" Kakashi said. "That's not a good idea," as he formed hand signs faster than the genin could follow. "Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" The majority of Naruto's shadow clones dispersed along with Sasuke's shadow clone in the massive inferno Kakashi exhaled. Sasuke screamed from the psychic shock of being "killed." Naruto just frowned and made more shadow clones.

Kakashi leapt back onto the creek and formed more unreadable hand signs. "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" The massive water dragon swept away more of the clones, but Naruto immediately made more to replace them.

Kakashi moved back onto the ground and quickly formed another set of unreadably fast hand signs. "Earth Style: Multiple Suicide Decapitation Jutsu!" The remaining Narutos sank into the ground up to their necks while Kakashi formed more hand signs. "Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu!"

Sakura watched as Kakashi executed those advanced ninjutsu techniques in rapid succession against what looked like an army of Narutos. '_If Naruto is forcing Kakashi to use those techniques, I'm going to be the one who goes back to the academy. Sasuke is probably planning an ambush and that's the only way I'll be able to stay with him._'

"If you overdo it early, you'll never succeed, Naruto," Kakashi said.

"Overdo it? I haven't even gotten warmed up, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto screamed. "Sasuke, Sakura, get your asses out here and help me or none of us will pass!" And Naruto summoned another army of shadow clones who all threw a barrage of kunai at the jonin. The kunai riddled Kakashi's body, but then it poofed into a log.

'_He's pretty good,_' Kakashi thought from a tree branch. '_But it doesn't matter for this exercise._'

Kakashi spotted Sakura's hiding spot and body-flickered behind her, "Hello, Sakura-chan," he waved, smiling at her behind his mask. '_Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Jutsu!_'

Sakura's eyes went wide and glassy as she was caught in the genjutsu. She sat there while Kakashi tried to find the real Naruto and Sasuke. He spotted them quickly and set up a few ambushes for the two. '_I wonder what those two are up to,_' he thought.

"You know she's the one who's going back, Naruto," Sasuke said.

"No. We'll all fail together, dammit," Naruto said. "This is our team and I'm not going to lose someone on our first day. We'll just figure out what happens after that."

'_If Naruto was alone, he'd have just passed, but I can't pass the whole team just on his performance,_' Kakashi thought.

"Time to chat, eh?" Kakashi asked, while reading his book. He engaged Sasuke in taijutsu to tire the Uchiha out and was surprised at Sasuke's skill. It wasn't near Kakashi's level, but it was better than a normal academy graduate's taijutsu. Kakashi kept Sasuke and Naruto on the defensive for several long minutes, until Sasuke was sweating and breathing heavily. Naruto wasn't even breathing hard yet.

"Slowing down, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked as twenty of him engaged the jonin.

'_Damn. Naruto's taijutsu is pretty good too,_' Kakashi thought as he absent-mindedly dispelled clone after clone. '_And his stamina is insane, as I expected. I don't know how I can push him to the limits of his endurance. He might have more than I do. But then, he's not the one I have to push._' Kakashi started attacking Sasuke again, but when he landed a hit, it dispersed just like a shadow clone. Kakashi looked around quickly and saw both genin heading deeper into the forest. '_Huh. Naruto must have taught him the Shadow Clone Jutsu._'

Naruto found Sakura lying on the ground where Kakashi had left her. He built up enough chakra to level a house and touched Sakura with it.

"AAAAAAAHHH!" she screamed.

"Relax. I think you were under a genjutsu, Sakura-chan," Naruto whispered. "We have to come up with plan."

"Yeah, right. You two are just trying to figure out how to use me to get the bells," Sakura said.

'_That must have been some jutsu to get her to turn on Sasuke,_' Naruto thought.

Sasuke shook his head. "No, just me. Naruto thinks we should all fail together."

"Or at least go down fighting. None of us can get the bells alone. If we work together, then we might be able to get them. We can decide who gets the bells later," Naruto said.

Sakura said, "And you two will just decide to take the bells and I'll be back at the academy."

Naruto looked at Sakura, figuring that she didn't want to be left behind. "No. If it comes to it, I'll go back to the academy. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. If we work together, we might be able to get the bells. If we don't, then we'll all fail." And then he thought, '_I can't be the first genin to think of this. Something about this test isn't right._'

Kakashi interrupted the three with a smile and a wave. Sasuke jumped back to get more space, but Naruto stood in front of Sakura with a kunai out. "That was a dick move, trapping her in a genjutsu while you fought the two of us, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi shrugged. "We're ninja," and launched another offensive while reading his book. This time, he went after Sakura, but Naruto kept putting himself in front of her. She wasn't even close to Naruto and Sasuke when it came to taijutsu. It didn't matter though because Naruto just kept taking hits for her while Kakashi watched Sasuke set up some traps. When Kakashi finally knocked the real Naruto out, Sasuke tried to get close to pull Naruto out, but Kakashi didn't leave an opening. Sakura was sweaty and shaking on her feet from just the few seconds she'd tried taijutsu.

None of them got close enough to the bells to even make a grab, but Naruto woke up after less than a minute and tried to grab a bell from under Kakashi, but Kakashi sent him flying with a mule kick before he got close, knocking Naruto out again when he hit a tree.

Sakura screamed, "Are you trying to kill him, Kakashi-sensei!? STOP! Naruto needs help!"

"The test isn't over, Sakura-chan," Kakashi replied, still fighting and reading his book.

Sakura ran to Naruto and Kakashi kept fighting Sasuke while she was checking her fallen teammate. Sasuke looked at Kakashi in disgust and fought harder, hoping to distract the jonin long enough for the others to escape or at least get up. Naruto got back up, shaking his head, as Sakura was checking him for a pulse. "I'm tougher than you might think, Sakura. Now help us out here," Naruto said as he made another dozen shadow clones and charged the jonin.

Sakura watched as her two teammates fought with skills that she couldn't hope to match that day and charged in as well, pulling out her kunai. The three put Kakashi on the defensive, but only just, and he backed away. Sasuke pushed himself well beyond what he thought he could take, but Kakashi was still too fast for him. In the middle of the match, however, Naruto noticed Sasuke's eyes change from black to red with one tomoe in one eye and two tomoe in the other.

Sasuke was significantly faster after his eyes activated and the three managed to push Kakashi back, but Kakashi was still better than Sasuke and the four-way taijutsu match continued. Sakura was the first to be caught in Kakashi's traps, but Sasuke and Naruto weren't far behind. As the three swung in their respective nets, Kakashi held up a hand and said,

"That was an intense workout, wouldn't you say? Sasuke even activated his sharingan, but I think it's time for us to take a break and have some lunch. Unfortunately, Sakura, since you did the worst this morning, you shouldn't get any, but Naruto broke the rules, so you'll get his instead."

Kakashi cut them all loose and brought them to the entrance of the training ground where he brought out two lunches and tied Naruto to a post. "I'll be back, so hurry up and eat," Kakashi said and then poofed.

"I'm freaking starving," Naruto said as he watched the other two eat.

"You shouldn't have jumped the gun," Sakura said. It was hard to stay mad at him after he took such a pummeling for her, but she couldn't shake the image of him as the class clown.

"Screw that. We all need to be strong if we hope to get those bells. We really can't do this alone. I have some ideas for how we can work together better too," Sasuke said as he fed Naruto some of his lunch.

Sakura was hungry, but if it hadn't been for Naruto, she'd be the one tied to the post and she'd be starving instead of just hungry. She sighed and said, "You're right," as she gave Naruto some of her lunch as well.

"What are you doing?" boomed Kakashi.

"We're not going to let Naruto starve just because he broke a stupid rule," Sakura said.

"Oh?" Kakashi asked.

"We can't beat you without him, Kakashi-sensei, so yes, we disobeyed," Sasuke said.

"In that case, you all," Kakashi paused, "pass," with a thumbs up.

The three genin looked at him, confused. "Those who break the rules are trash. But those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash," Kakashi explained. "This test was never about who got the bells." Kakashi pulled out his own lunch and another for Naruto before untying him. "I was surprised that the Hokage put you all on the same team. Naruto should be at the top of the class and the teams are usually balanced," he said sitting against a log. "Sakura is number one in academics and Sasuke is number one in practical. I can't believe that you were dead last, Naruto."

Naruto and Sasuke both looked at Kakashi and Naruto said, "I tanked academics and practical so I'd get teamed up with Sasuke."

Kakashi smiled and said in shock, "You've got to be kidding me."

Sasuke said, "Nope." While Naruto just beamed a smile.

Sakura was just confused by the exchange. "Kakashi-sensei, why would you think Naruto would be at the top of the class? He's always pulling pranks and barely passed anything the entire time he was at the academy."

"I helped Naruto when he was first starting at the academy. I showed him a way to study so that he would be able to do very well. It's something that only someone with a very high level of stamina could pull off though," Kakashi said.

Sakura thought and ate for a few moments before asking Naruto, "Does it have to do with the weird clones that you make?"

Kakashi interjected, "Oh ho! You're a sharp one, Sakura-chan."

"Sasuke made just one and when you dispelled it, he was in pain for a moment. Which must mean that anything that the clone experiences, the original will experience when the clone dispels. And Naruto pumps out shadow clones like they don't cost him anything, which means he must have not only absurd stamina, but immense chakra reserves," she mused. "How long have you been using shadow clones to train, Naruto?"

"Since about the middle of our first year," he said.

"If you averaged twenty clones a day, you'd have covered the entire curriculum in no time. Why didn't you graduate early?" Sakura wondered aloud.

"Short version: mom wouldn't let me. She said we aren't at war and there's no reason to cut my childhood short," he explained.

Then Sakura realized something else. "Kakashi dispelled hundreds of your clones. Why didn't that hurt you?"

"It did. I just didn't pay attention to it," he smiled.

'_Not only is he a stamina freak, but he gets killed hundreds of times as part of his battle tactics and doesn't even flinch. There is something seriously not right about Naruto,_' Sakura thought.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

A/N: This is where the butterfly effect starts to kick in a bit more. I'm not doing the Wave arc and this chapter is mostly a setup for the chunin exams. Sorry if it's a little slow and/or boring, but I'd rather put this in now than do flashbacks. I hate flashbacks. The next chapter should be better.

Remember to tell me what you like or don't like about it. I can't get better without feedback.

**Chapter 5**

Team 7 had completed their twenty-seventh D-rank mission in only six days. Sakura was exhausted. Between the back-to-back missions every day and Sasuke and Naruto's insistence on training every night, she could barely move when she got home at night. The day Kakashi met them for the normal morning update on missions and simply said, "Today, we're taking a break to visit the village monuments," she broke down in tears and hugged the jonin. She didn't care that she'd racked up a month's worth of mission pay in only a week, she was just glad for the forced rest.

"And this is the Hokage monument. Naruto, would you like to tell everyone why you come up here so often?" Kakashi said as the quartet stood on the side of the cliff. Kakashi had given them the tree-climbing exercise on their second day, so they were all practicing vertical surface walks on the Hokage monument.

"Well, it used to be because I could see the whole village and everyone would have to look up to me. I really liked the idea of being admired by the village instead of the weird looks everyone always gives me. But, after a while, I got used to the calm up here. It's very quiet. I also… talk to them sometimes," Naruto explained.

'_Of course, he's got a screw loose. Such a freak,_' Sakura thought.

After the second week of relentless missions and training, Team 7 visited the empty Uchiha compound. Sakura was surprised that she wasn't as exhausted as the first week. She was stronger and faster due to the training, but her chakra level was also increasing. She was still exhausted at the end of every day, but she wasn't so tired that she slept in her clothes that second week.

"This is where Itachi killed my cousin. This is where Itachi killed my aunt and uncle. This is where Itachi killed my other cousins," Sasuke narrated the tour.

When they got to Sasuke's house, he stood outside, frozen. "You don't have to do this, if you don't want to. We can do something else. Whatever you want to do that isn't training or missions, Sasuke," Naruto soothed.

"No. I want to show you this. I want you all to know," Sasuke said. He reached out and slid open the door to his home, the memories flooding back as if it had been yesterday. "This is where I found Itachi s… standing over our parents w… with his sword c… covered in th…their blood. This is where he told me that if… if I wanted to live, I should run away. And this is where he trapped me in tsukuyomi," Sasuke's voice got hard when he said the last part. "For three days."

'_I had no idea. No wonder he constantly trains. How awesome is he?_' Sakura thought.

After another week of missions and practice, Sakura was actually able to get into pajamas before bed instead of just stripping off her gear and collapsing into a heap. She was surprised when Kakashi met her at her door at the end of the week though.

"Kakashi-sensei, what's up?" Sakura asked.

"Tomorrow is a day off and it's your turn to decide what we do. What would you like to do tomorrow as a group?" Kakashi asked. "But no training or missions."

Sakura thought for a few minutes and realized that with the amount of mission pay they were racking up, she had a whole lot of money to burn. "Shopping," she said firmly. "And maybe a trip to the spa."

Kakashi smiled reluctantly and said, "It's your day, so shopping it is. Meet at the normal place at the normal time and we'll all go together," before poofing away.

And that was how Team 7 went on a shopping spree with Sakura. The boys were bored senseless and Naruto asked if he could spin off some shadow clones to do some training, but Kakashi told him that they were to stay together all day. Then Sakura took them all to the spa for facials, manicures, pedicures, mud baths, and massages. She felt it was a very relaxing day. The boys came around after the massages.

—The Hokage's office—

"I'm sorry, Kakashi, but there aren't any more D-rank missions. You'll have to wait for more, do some training, or take a C-rank mission," the Hokage explained. "The other jonin are angry that you've taken so many missions, so even if more missions come in, I'm afraid that I'm going to have limit the number that you can take in a month."

The three genin were looking at Kakashi like they'd just caught him with his hand in the cookie jar.

'_I knew it!_' Sakura thought.

'_Why has he been pushing us so hard on this easy stuff? We need to step it up and take something fun,_' Naruto thought.

'_Finally, no more crappy "catch my missing cat" missions,_' Sasuke thought.

Kakashi had his hand behind his head. "Well, I guess we can do some training for a few days while I figure out if we're ready for a C-rank mission," Kakashi smiled through his mask.

Kakashi's idea of training, however, was not skill improvement. He decided to ask the other jonin if they could work together on their missions. Kakashi had to agree not to split the pay, however, which meant that Team 7 spent the week working for free. A fact that did not escape Kushina.

—Kakashi's apartment—

"Kakashi-chan, just take a C-rank mission. Naruto and Sasuke have been asking you for at least a week. You're making them work for free. And I don't know how much more of their training poor Sakura can take," Kushina lectured.

"Kushina-san, we aren't at war, so I'm taking things as slowly as I can," Kakashi countered.

"By doing five missions a day? Are you trying to break records?" Kushina interrogated.

"Naruto has the stamina to handle it and so do the others. Their teamwork is almost perfect now, so I'm going to ask for a C-rank mission in a few days. However, the Hokage mentioned something about you starting back to active duty and I didn't want to leave before you started," Kakashi said.

"You're waiting on me?" Kushina was shocked.

Kakashi looked at the floor. "Yes," he admitted. "You shouldn't sit at home worrying. Minato-sensei would have wanted you to do something. To contribute."

"I'll speak with the Hokage in the morning," Kushina replied.

—Team 7's normal meeting place, three hours later than normal—

"Kakashi isn't usually this late," Sakura whined.

Naruto had long since given up being patient and was practicing throwing kunai and taijutsu with dozens of clones while another dozen clones practiced sealing and unsealing with storage scrolls.

Sasuke leaned casually against the fence and sighed, bored.

"What is up with Naruto?" Sakura finally asked Sasuke. "How can he keep going like that?"

"He's a stamina freak. His mom is the same way. Half the reason I got so far ahead, physically, the last few years is because those two are relentless. It's the only area where he's legitimately better than me," Sasuke responded. It was nice that Sakura wasn't fawning over him, but it was also still a little weird.

"His mom?" Sakura asked.

"Kushina-san. She's got red hair and a fiery temper, but she cares a lot. Without her, I'd probably still be so obsessed with Itachi that I couldn't see straight," Sasuke admitted. "I'm pretty sure she's S-rank, but she hasn't been on active duty since Naruto was born."

"S-rank with red hair and hasn't been active since before the Kyuubi Incident. I'll have to remember to look her up. What's her maiden name?" Sakura asked.

"Uzumaki is her maiden name," Sasuke said tersely. "But don't bother looking her up. Ask Kakashi about her."

"What, is there some village secret about her and Naruto?" she asked, jokingly.

Sasuke sat silently.

"You're messing with me, right?" Sakura asked.

"He knows Jiraiya-sama of the sannin, personally. You've heard how he gets away with addressing the Hokage. And he knew Kakashi, personally, before our team formed. I told you that I'm pretty sure his mother is S-ranked. None of the adults will talk about it at all. Do you really think I'm messing with you?" he looked her square in the eyes.

"Holy shit. This team is seriously unbalanced. No wonder Kakashi was surprised," she trailed.

"Since you started training with Naruto, you're getting much stronger than I would have ever thought," Sasuke admitted. "If you keep pushing yourself, you'll be much better than most of the rest of our class. It's probably unfair to them, but the Hokage isn't going to break up a bunch of teams just to rearrange us. It's actually beneficial for you that this happened, because you're getting stronger much faster than if we'd been a balanced team," Sasuke mused.

Kakashi chose that moment to poof next to them. He waved, "Hello, Team 7," and smiled behind his mask.

Naruto dispelled all of his clones and joined the rest of the team. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei! What're we doing today?"

"Didn't I tell you? We're taking a few days off. We have a joint escort mission going into the desert and it's going to be a long trip," Kakashi explained.

"Great!" Naruto cheered. "So we're going to do some training, right?"

"I'll show you some exercises, but no heavy training. I don't want the team worn out," he stared at Naruto, "before we even leave. Rest up and meet at the gates first thing in the morning in three days."

Naruto frowned and grumbled, "Fine."

When Naruto and Sasuke got home, they were surprised to find Kushina examining a topless woman whose black hair was tied up.

"Um… mom?" Naruto started. "Should we come back later?" His mind was filled with mental images conjured from Jiraiya's books and he suddenly felt a little sick.

"No. It's fine. I'm just examining this seal Anko-chan has on her neck. There are actually two of them: one is the actual thing and the other is a suppressing seal," Kushina said absently.

"You're gonna learn about the naughty bits sooner or later," Anko smiled. "Might as well do it under parental supervision, eh?"

Kushina stopped examining the seal and looked at Anko. "Please, put on a shirt, Anko-chan," she said soberly. She changed her tone as she faced Naruto and Sasuke. "What are you doing home so soon? Aren't you supposed to be on missions or training?"

"Nah," Naruto answered. "Kakashi said we have a long mission in a couple of days and he didn't want me tiring out the wimps," he motioned to Sasuke.

"Shut up, stamina-freak. Only you could keep up that pace," Sasuke retorted.

"Well, since you're here, I might as well tell you in person. I went on active duty today and my first mission involves Anko-chan. I'm going to be gone for a few weeks while we work together, so you'll be on your own until you leave with Kakashi-chan," Kushina explained. "Sasuke-chan, I believe that you need to practice with your sharingan. Mikoto mentioned a tablet once, so go find that on the Uchiha grounds and see if it helps. Naruto-chan, there are some scrolls for you to study in your room and Jiraiya-sensei should come by with a summoning contract for you to sign before you go."

Kushina rushed over to the genin and wrapped them in a big hug, saying, "You boys be careful and make sure to come back, okay? I love you both."

Naruto replied, "Of course, mom. We're way too awesome to bite it on some lame C-rank mission."

Sasuke replied, "We're not going to die. Please let go of me." While he secretly thought, '_This is embarrassingly nice._'

Kushina picked up a bag and left with Anko across the rooftops. Naruto waved while Sasuke plopped down on the couch. He interrupted Naruto's farewell saying, "It's your turn to make lunch, stamina-freak."

Naruto turned and shouted with a giant smile, "Ramen, it is then!"

—Three days later, on the road to Sand—

"Kakashi-sensei, are you sure that there isn't something I could be practicing along the way? How about Body-Flicker? Pleeeeeeeeeease?" Naruto whined.

'_If I don't find something for him to work on, he's going to be like this for the whole trip. And if I do give him something, then he won't be paying attention to the clients. *sigh* Was I like this at his age?_' Kakashi thought to himself while trying his best to ignore Naruto.

"Sasuke," Kakashi called quietly over the radio.

"Yes," the serious genin replied.

"Do you see anything?"

"Negative contact," came Sasuke's voice over the radio.

Kakashi turned to Naruto and asked, "How is your chakra control coming?"

"I can keep a leaf stuck to my forehead while transitioning from water-walking to wall-walking or tree-climbing. I stopped practicing after running with it for fifteen minutes. Sasuke timed me," Naruto replied much calmer.

"We're on a mission, so limit yourself to four shadow clones and don't wear yourself out. If I tell you to stop, don't ask questions. Got it?"

"Hey! What are you doing? We didn't hire you to take a bunch of kids on a road trip, dammit!" screamed the convoy's lead driver.

"Having extra eyes will be very useful, sir, so just let us do our job and everything will be fine," Kakashi smiled. "Okay, Naruto. Body-Flicker should be easy to learn," Kakashi started with the mic open for Sasuke and Sakura to hear. "All you have to do is mold chakra into your whole body. It temporarily energizes you and allows you to move at much higher speeds. The boost is only temporary though and the whole technique depends on how much chakra you put into it."

Kakashi showed Naruto by moving from the ground to a nearby tree in less than the blink of an eye. "Like that. The better you are at it, the faster you'll move. Now practice, but leave at least one set of eyes to watch for danger," he said as he jumped back down.

Naruto created four shadow clones and set them to practice while he diligently kept an eye out.

—Two days later, near the border of Sand—

"Kakashi-sensei, possible contact left," Sasuke radioed from ahead of the convoy. His sharingan was already active in preparation for battle. Wind gusted past to him as Naruto body-flickered next to him.

Naruto discovered that body-flicker was a good technique for closing distance, but he could only move in a straight line. In order to take a corner, he would have to move at his fastest speeds or body-flicker, pause, then body-flicker again. Molding the chakra for the technique took him a split-second as well, so he didn't like the idea of using it against a serious opponent. But to move a few hundred yards in the blink of an eye, it was perfect.

"That's a handy trick, stamina-freak," Sasuke whispered.

"You should talk, red-eyes. What've we got?" Naruto whispered in response.

"I can't tell without getting closer. Send a shadow clone over there," he pointed, "to check it out."

Naruto nodded and created a shadow clone which promptly body-flickered in the direction Sasuke pointed. After a minute, Naruto frowned. He clicked his radio on and asked, "Kakashi-sensei, are we in Wind country yet?"

"Not yet. Did you spot Sand-nin?" Kakashi replied.

"I don't think so. It's a nin from the Mist village. She looked a little malnourished, but killed my clone with a lava ball," Naruto answered.

Kakashi winced. "Halt the convoy," he said to the convoy leader. "Sakura, guard them. Radio if you get into any trouble. Sasuke, Naruto, join Sakura. And make a clone to come with me."

Naruto body-flickered next to Kakashi and created a clone. Sasuke, not to be outdone, body-flickered next to Naruto. "I don't know what's going on, but this could get dangerous. If she kills me, take a longer route around to complete the mission then return to the village immediately," Kakashi told the genin trio.

Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto went to where Naruto's last clone had died, but found only a cooling ball of lava. "Come to finish the job?" wheezed a slender woman covered in dirt from behind them. "You'll find I'm not so easy to kill! Lava Style: Lava Glob!" A ball of lava shot out, but Kakashi grabbed Naruto and dodged as it passed close enough to feel the heat while Sasuke evaded using body-flicker to a nearby tree.

"We're not here to kill anyone!" Naruto shouted. But Kakashi pulled his headband up to expose the three-tomoe sharingan in his left eye.

"Naruto! She's not interested in talking!" Kakashi shouted, readying himself for battle.

"Kakashi the Copy ninja, huh? Well, try copying this!" she shouted, stumbling on her feet. "Boil Style: Corrosive Mist!" A tiny jet of mist came out of her mouth, but she started coughing before much more than a few squirts came out. She stumbled forward into the aborted jutsu and Naruto body-flickered behind the woman, wrapping his arms around her neck and his legs around her waist.

"I've got her!" he shouted, holding on for dear life.

She spun around and smashed backward into a tree, dispelling the shadow clone. "What the—" was all that she managed to say as Kakashi struck her from behind, knocking tired woman out.

"Sakura, tell the convoy to prepare a tent," Kakashi radioed.

—Inside the large tent—

"But we're not hunter-nin. She's from another village and she looks like she's lost. We should just give her directions home and be on our way," Naruto argued.

Kakashi frowned behind his mask. "She might have comrades nearby, Naruto. We don't know why she's here. We can't just let her go. On the other hand, we aren't at war with the Village Hidden in the Mist, so we could just let her go and file a report on the incident. Still, I'd like to hear her explanation before I decide. And it looks like she might be out for a while."

The woman rolled over and started pushing herself up. Naruto ran over with Sakura and said with a smile, "Hello! You're awake already! I'm Naruto Uzumaki. Who are you?"

"Didn't I kill you, Naruto Uzumaki? Am I dead?" the woman grumbled.

"Not dead. Just in a very precarious state. I can tell that you are an extremely dangerous kunoichi, but as exhausted as you are right now, I don't think you should strain yourself," Kakashi said, smiling.

"What are you Leaf ninja doing here?" she asked.

"This is Fire country. Why wouldn't we be here?" Naruto commented.

"Where do you think you are?" Kakashi asked.

"Are you the interrogation team then?" she asked with icy resolve.

"We do things differently than the Bloody Mist. We just happened to be in the area. I haven't decided if we should take you in yet," Kakashi explained.

"You can't hold me, Copy Kakashi," she said with a deadly tone.

Kakashi smiled, "Probably not."

Naruto added with a smile of his own, "But we can't help you if you don't tell us anything."

The woman looked like she was thinking about it for a while. "I was returning from a mission when I got caught in a sand storm. I don't know how long ago," she finally explained with a scowl.

Naruto pulled a map out of one of his pouches and the woman flinched before she saw that it was only a map. He unfolded it in front of her and pointed to where they were on it. "This is where we are." He pulled out some rations and water. "Here's some food and water. Rest for a little while and then make your way home." He smiled again and waved as the four Leaf ninja left her alone in the tent.

'_I don't really have much choice, do I?_' she thought as she passed out.

The convoy continued on to the desert where Kakashi passed the convoy off to a team from the Village Hidden in the Sand. They checked the tent on the way back, but it was empty.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

A/N: With enough training, anyone can become good at anything. Let's see how that works out. Let the chunin exam begin!

If you like the story, tell me about it in the reviews. If you don't like the story, tell me about it in the reviews. I'm here to practice and improve writing, so help me out, will ya?

**Chapter 6**

"Ibiki says that we can't use the Forest of Death this year for the exams," Anko whined. She lounged on Kushina's couch with a large alcoholic beverage in one hand. Kushina was in the kitchen, pulling out her makeshift grill.

"Well? What's the problem?" Kushina asked as she started setting the grill up.

"He told me that I had to devise another challenge that would eliminate at least half of the teams taking the exams. Like it's my fault we can't use the forest." Anko took another sip.

Kushina assembled the last part of the grate before responding, "Orochimaru could have been spying on you through that Cursed Heaven thing for the last ten years. We found the security hole and plugged it, but now we have to change things up. Every project you've worked on in the last ten years has to change because we have to assume that Orochimaru knows all about it. That happened to all of the ongoing projects and missions as soon as I got that thing analyzed, but the chunin exams only come around to Konohagakure every fifth exam. That's every two and a half years. You've proctored the Forest of Death twice already, so they're changing it."

"It's not like the Forest of Death hasn't been around since the founding of the village! I don't know why he decided to fuck me over—"

"Language!" Kushina yelled. "My kids are going to be home soon and if you want to stay for dinner, you'll have to set a better example."

"—one little missing-nin who already knew about it," Anko griped quietly. '_Can't argue with free barbecue._'

"And that 'one little missing-nin' is the snake-sannin. I wonder why they're paranoid," Kushina frowned.

—Training ground 11, sunset—

"Naruto! Stop! Please!" Sakura panted, struggling to catch her breath. "I'm dying here!"

Sasuke and Naruto were still fighting a dozen yards from where the pink-haired girl was huffing and puffing at a shadow clone.

"You always say that, Sakura," Naruto admonished. "Would you rather spar against Sasuke?"

Sakura winced. She remembered the bruises she'd had for days after the last time she'd sparred with Sasuke. "No, but all of this training is killing me," she huffed. "I can't keep up this pace." Sakura's hair was tied up in a bun and sweat dripped off her chin. Naruto's orange jumpsuit was barely dirty and the clone looked like it had barely broken a sweat.

"Tomorrow we'll work on ninjutsu then. I wish Kakashi would train us more though. It'd be nice if he showed us one of those thousands of jutsus he knows," Naruto complained.

"It's not like we don't have time to learn those advanced things, Naruto. Kakashi is teaching us the basics," Sakura defended.

"If you say so. How's your chakra level coming?" Naruto deflected.

"It's better, I think. I don't know. You and Sasuke are the only comparisons I have. I'm nowhere near you, but my control is still better than you," she explained. "I think I've got about a quarter of Sasuke's chakra level, but I can't tell for sure."

"Take a couple of minutes and then we'll do some body-flicker practice," Naruto instructed.

He and Sasuke were already pretty ragged with their sparring practice, but Sakura didn't need to know that. Sasuke used his sharingan to react faster than Naruto, but constant practice was increasing Naruto's speed to the point where Sasuke was almost having trouble staying ahead. Naruto was getting fast, but he still didn't know much more than basic ninjutsu. He didn't know any elemental attacks. He didn't know any genjutsu except how to break them. He knew a lot of taijutsu. He practiced until his taijutsu was nearly flawless, but he still didn't know anything advanced. The only other jutsu that Naruto knew was the summoning jutsu and Jiraiya still hadn't gotten around to letting him sign the contract that allowed him to summon frogs.

Naruto held up a hand and said, "I've been running Sakura ragged. I think we need to practice ninjutsu more anyway, but I don't know many jutsus. We'd just be practicing the basics."

Sasuke stopped and said, "Yeah, we should start bugging Kakashi to teach us more."

The two broke up their spar and walked over to Sakura, who was still catching her breath. Naruto's insistence on training her had started to pay off, but it was hard work, which was something she was unaccustomed to doing. She'd always been smart enough that she hadn't had to work very hard at the academy, but Sasuke and Naruto were so far ahead of her that not training would have been nearly suicidal.

Kakashi showed up while the three were drinking water. "Taking a break from training? This generation is so lazy," Kakashi smiled behind his mask.

"Are you INSANE?" Sakura screamed. "I haven't been able to feel my arms or legs! Naruto and Sasuke are brutal slave drivers! If we trained any more, I would keel over and DIE!"

Kakashi only smiled harder. '_Their work ethic is just like Gai,_' he thought. '_This should be entertaining._'

"Perhaps one day you'll see the merit in hard work, Sakura-chan. But, for now, I wanted to ask you all a serious question. Our village, Konohagakure, will host the next chunin exams and I wondered what each of you thought about entering."

'_We've only been genin for a few months. Are we ready?_' Sakura thought.

'_It would be a great chance to test my skill and learn from other shinobi. Yes!_' Sasuke thought.

"Hell yeah! We just need to learn a couple of things and I think we'll kick ass and take names!" Naruto shouted excitedly.

Sasuke and Sakura looked at Naruto. They were accustomed to his outbursts, but this one seemed even more energetic than normal.

"That is certainly definitive, Naruto. How about you two?" Kakashi asked the tired genin.

"I don't see why we shouldn't enter the exams. It's not like it's a one-time only test, right?" Sasuke asked. Kakashi shook his head.

"Is it going to mean more training, Naruto?" Sakura asked, pleading with her eyes that the answer would be "no."

Naruto thought for a moment, reviewing what he knew of human anatomy. He finally responded, "We should definitely rest up in the days before the exam, but we can't slack off on training just because we might get promoted."

'_A few days of rest is all I ask. I constantly feel like I got buried under a building,_' Sakura thought, but said, "Okay then. Let's do it."

Kakashi smiled again. "Great! I'll get the forms. No more missions for the next two weeks."

Sakura was just getting excited about finally having free time, but Naruto interrupted her fantasy, "YES! More time to practice and train!"

Sakura shot up and screamed, "NOOOOOOOOOO!" as she ran home.

—Naruto's house, two days before the exams—

"Sakura-chan, I'm so glad that you could come over! I hope the boys haven't been pushing you too hard with their training," Kushina gushed. "They can be pretty intense."

'_Understatement of the decade, lady,_' Sakura thought. "They just want to make sure that the whole team is strong, Kushina-san," she responded demurely.

Kakashi was wearing his standard blue clothes with his green jacket over it. His mask came up to cover his mouth and nose, as usual, and his headband drooped to cover his left eye. He was sitting on the couch next to a woman Sakura hadn't met. The woman had black hair with blue highlights and wore a jacket over her tight mesh armor.

Kushina had her hair tied up and into a high bun with chopsticks pinning it into place and wore an apron over civilian clothes. Naruto wore the orange jumpsuit that he had worn since before it fit right, still proudly displaying his forehead protector. Sasuke wore his standard outfit. White shorts with a blue shirt emblazoned with the Uchiha crest on the back.

Sakura wasn't sure if she should have worn her standard gear or the civilian clothes she'd decided to wear instead. Naruto noticed her and ran over, excitedly. Sakura was a little surprised that he didn't body-flicker, but she figured he didn't want to use jutsu at home. She never used jutsu at home.

Then it struck her. There were pictures that had genjutsu on them. There weren't many pictures in the two-bedroom apartment, but all of the ones on display had genjutsu on them. Before Sakura could think any further, however, Naruto grabbed her arm and pulled her over to the couch.

"Kakashi-sensei! Anko-san! Sakura-chan is here!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"Hey there, Pinkie," Anko blurted with a drunken smile. "Nice ta meetcha."

"Glad you could make it, Sakura-chan," Kakashi smiled. He had a drink that was only half-full, but his mask was still on.

'_Come to think of it, I've never actually seen Kakashi's face,_' Sakura couldn't help thinking.

"Anko-san was just telling us about when she took the chunin exams," Naruto said with a serious tone. "She said that we were lucky that this year wouldn't be like back then."

"Oh. That's nice," Sakura responded.

Anko laughed evilly. "This year, we completely redesigned the middle stage. You guys'll never pass!"

Naruto laughed a good-natured laugh. "You think some test is going to stop me? I'll be Hokage one day. Even better than Yondaime!"

'_I knew he wanted to be Hokage, but better than the Yellow Flash? He must be on drugs,_' Sakura thought.

"Oh, ho! The Legendary Pink Troublemaker has arrived!" boomed an older man's voice. Sakura turned to see a drunken Jiraiya looking down at her. "That is certainly exotic, Naruto. I can see why you'd be into her."

"Don't be such a pedophile, Ero-sensei!" Naruto shouted.

"I'm not! I'm just saying if I was twelve, I'd be into her too! I'm saying you have good taste, boy!" Jiraiya argued with Naruto.

Sakura was suddenly and intensely uncomfortable. She snuck back away from the two boisterous arguers, seeking safe-haven. Her choices were Kushina and the Hokage or Sasuke. She chose Sasuke.

"Hi, Sasuke," she smiled. "This is quite the get together, isn't it?"

He grunted. "Yeah. A real gathering of legends. And none of them want to teach anything," he frowned.

Sakura sat silently, unsure of how to respond. She was very uncomfortable with just about everyone in the room. She quietly looked around, hoping to find someone who would be better company than Sasuke, who was in one of his moods, apparently. She remembered the genjutsu as she looked around and decided, finally, to break it.

She looked at one of the pictures. Then over at Naruto, who was still arguing with Jiraiya-sama. Then back at the pictures. Then to Jiraiya and Naruto. Then back to the pictures.

"No way," she whispered, her face draining of all color. "No," she whispered as she slowly stood. "This is completely unfair," she shook.

"WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME—" Sakura started to scream, but Sasuke clamped his hand over her mouth before she could finish.

—Training ground 17, the night before the exams—

Naruto had fifty shadow clones practicing the basic jutsu and control exercises that he knew in various combinations. Some practiced body-flicker while keeping a leaf on their foreheads. Some practiced tree-climbing then water-walking and back. Some practiced replacement while under a henge transformation. Some threw kunai at targets while others tried to block and interfere. He wasn't happy with just practicing basic techniques, but he was sure that he could convince someone he knew to teach him more eventually. And Jiraiya had drilled him with the idea that "learning the basics creates a foundation for learning more complex ideas" during his initial academy days.

After practicing all day, Naruto was getting tired. His clones started dispelling and he could feel that he was running low on chakra. '_Just a little more,_' he thought as he tried to draw more chakra.

'**_JUST WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?_**' a strange, deep voice boomed from everywhere.

"Who's there?" Naruto asked as the world started to fade. But instead of the normal black that accompanied unconsciousness, he found himself underground, in front of a massive gate with a shallow, endless puddle of water underfoot.

'**_YOU DON'T HAVE ANY CHAKRA LEFT AND I DIDN'T SAY THAT YOU COULD HAVE ANY OF MINE, BOY_**,' the same voice rumbled from the darkness beyond the gate.

'_Who are you?_' Naruto asked, approaching the gate cautiously.

A wave of hate washed out from behind the bars of the gate, but Naruto just stood there, letting it wash past him. He could feel the chakra in it and that it had filled him with as much chakra as he had first thing in the morning.

'_We're inside of me, aren't we? Who are you? What is this?_' Naruto asked again.

'**_BREAK THE SEAL AND LET ME OUT!_**' the voice rumbled. Naruto looked up and saw a paper seal over the lock that kept the gate closed. The seal looked oddly familiar, but he couldn't place it. He hesitated for a few long seconds before a giant, angry, red fox head snapped at the gate. '**_LET ME OUT!_**'

Naruto jumped in surprise. '_Not if you're going to snap at me! And you won't even tell me your name! I'm outta here._'

The world came back into focus, but it was tinged in red. Naruto started practicing again and found that he was much faster and stronger than normal. It was almost like when he used body-flicker except he wasn't just faster and it wasn't just in the instant like body-flicker.

'_I have to remember to look into this after the exams,_' he thought as he practiced.

—The chunin exams, second floor—

"Get out of here, scum," a voice said coldly. "You'll never pass anyway, so just go home."

The sign above the door read "302" and two boys were blocking the door. Sakura had seen through a much better genjutsu just a few days before, so she easily saw through it. Sasuke just watched as a boy in green spandex got up said, "I am sorry, but I must go into the test room. I am aware that we are not permitted to fight outside of the exam, but if you do not allow me inside, I will have to force my way through."

Naruto looked at his teammates and said, "Should we help him? I thought that this was a team thing. Where's his team?"

A boy with long, dark hair and strange lavender eyes tapped the green spandex boy on the shoulder. "Lee, come on. There are other ways in. Let's go."

Lee looked like he was about to explode, but said, "Of course, Neji. Let us go through another entrance."

"Come on, guys," Naruto said calmly as the three went up to the third floor, where the exam would take place. The room was filled with many genin teams. There were headbands from the five major villages and several minor villages.

Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino were there already. They were talking to another team that had graduated with their class. The first was a scruffy looking boy with a puppy on his head. The second was the very shy Hinata, whose eyes were the same as that boy from downstairs, now that Naruto had a chance to take a good look at her. The third was another quiet one that Naruto didn't immediately recognize.

"You're here too? How troublesome," Shikamaru commented as Team 7 approached.

"Is this our entire genin class?" Naruto asked with a smile. "Man, we're all doing great if we're all up for chunin so soon, right?"

"How did you make it, dead-last?" the boy with the dog sneered. "You barely passed the genin exams. Sasuke must be carrying you."

Ino had already snuggled right up to Sasuke. Sakura just felt ashamed for her friend. She was sizing up the other genin. Most were at least a year older than their class.

Naruto laughed. "Yeah, Sasuke is carrying us."

Shikamaru just repeated, "How troublesome."

An older boy with greyish hair and purple clothes came over to the genin group. "Hello there! I see that you're new. Would you like some help? I have these neat data cards that I've compiled over the years to help me strategize. My name is Kabuto, by the way."

"Sure!" said the boy with the dog.

"Who've you got info on?" Naruto asked, skeptically. "Let's see our cards first."

The purple boy pulled out nine cards and charged them with a miniscule amount of chakra, which caused the underlying images to become visible.

"That's a neat trick," Naruto commented, taking his card. It read:

**Uzumaki, Naruto**

**Chakra control: 1.5/10**

**Chakra level: 9/10**

**Academics: 1/10**

**D-rank missions: 87/87**

**C-rank missions: 14/14**

**Known ninjutsu: Shadow Clones, Replacement, Clones, Transformation, Sexy Technique**

**Known genjutsu: none**

**Known taijutsu: basic, self-taught**

**Other known jutsu: none**

**Elemental Affinity: Unknown**

**Kekkei genkai: Unknown; probably none**

Naruto chuckled. "I wouldn't put too much stock in his information, guys. He's pretty far off the mark."

Naruto tried to channel just a tiny amount of chakra into the card, trying to do what Kabuto had done, but instead of going blank, the card flared up like a flashbulb and burnt out.

"Dammit. I should have known you'd fry it!" Kabuto lamented. "It even hinted at it on the card!"

"Since you've got it memorized anyway, I guess it wasn't that big of a deal," Naruto said, secretly guilty that he'd burned out the card. He handed back the blackened square anyway. "Sorry that I burnt it though."

"TAKE YOUR SEATS!" boomed a tall, scarred man wearing a black leather coat at the head of the room. Everyone scurried into seats. They took the nearest available seats, since nobody knew if there were any assigned seats. The man didn't seem to care. "Welcome to the first part of the chunin exam. This is the written exam. You will have fifty minutes to complete the first nine questions. I will then give you the tenth question and you will have ten minutes remaining. Anyone caught cheating will be dismissed, along with the rest of their team." He set a clock with a timer in front of the class and hit the start button saying, "Begin!"

Naruto didn't have a problem with the first nine questions. He knocked it out in about twenty minutes, deciding to take a nap until the tenth question.

"… choice," the same voice woke Naruto. "You can take the tenth question, but if you fail, you will never be able to take the exam again. This is it. If you decide to back out, you can take the exam again later, but your whole team will leave with you. Will you continue? Make your decisions."

Naruto looked around the room and noticed a few teams backing out, mostly from other nations. The clock continued ticking, but it didn't look like anyone else was backing out. Naruto was surprised that the shy girl stuck it out. She didn't seem that self-confident, but he mentally cheered, '_That's right! Don't let anyone intimidate you!_'

He slammed his hand down with a loud thud and yelled, "Hurry up, already. No one else is leaving, so give us the question. Get on with it!"

"You didn't notice?" the large man asked coldly. "I already asked the tenth question."

Sudden realization dawned on Naruto. The man had asked, "Will you continue?" And that was the only question that mattered in the written exam.

The timer still ticked down, but nobody else left. There were still sixteen teams in the massive room and, as if on cue, when the timer went off, Anko appeared in the window. "Are you losing your touch, Ibiki? There's so many!" she commented.

"Just a solid group this year, Anko. Now take them to the next part of the exam," the scarred man said.

"Well, we'll cut this group in half, at least, before the finals," Anko replied casually. "Follow me!"

She led the remaining teams into the heart of the village, where there was a table set up with two bins of scrolls and a group of proctors. There were more proctors than teams.

"Listen up, kids! Normally, we'd do something dangerous and deadly that would eliminate a bunch of you, but you all got lucky this year because we're doing a wholly new elimination contest. Each team is going to sign up over here," she pointed to some proctors, "and then a proctor will remove one scroll from one of these two bins. The proctor will then go into the merchant district, where many of you have been staying, and hide the scroll somewhere. There are two different scrolls. One is a white 'heaven' scroll while the other is a brown 'earth' scroll. In order to pass, your entire team must bring one of each type, two scrolls, back here by sunrise tomorrow. The catch is that there will be proctors roaming the merchant district and if they catch you, you must give up one scroll. You may not kill. You may not injure civilians. You may not cause property damage or steal anything but the scrolls. Anyone who breaks those rules will be sanctioned. Don't break a treaty just to make chunin, kiddies."

'_Suck it, Ibiki. This is even better than the Forest of Death. Now the best infiltrators will fight each other and not the best survivalists,_' Anko thought.

"There will be a ten minute delay once a proctor takes the last scroll before you may begin. Anyone not familiar with the merchant district, we have maps with the border streets marked here. Now sign up and get moving. Time's wasting!"

Having home-field advantage was huge for the genin of Team 7. Naruto knew all of the best hiding places throughout the village as well, so they never got nabbed by proctors. Shikamaru's team and a team from Mist managed to beat them to the return station, but third of eight wasn't bad. A team from sand came in a few minutes behind Team 7, but Team 7 was already half asleep when that team came in.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I own nothing about Naruto.

A/N: This chapter is a little rushed, but I think that it turned out all right. Please enjoy, since it might be a week before I have time to work on this any more.

If you hate it, tell me about it! If you like it, tell me about it! If you're too lazy, tell me about it! Give me some feedback!

**Chapter 7**

"Normally, we would have simply given you all a month to prepare for the finals. But this year seems to have an abnormal number of passing teams, so we're going to have to have some preliminary matches," the Hokage announced.

Eight teams remained after the infiltration test. All of them gathered in a closed arena with their jonin-senseis to hear about the next phase of the exam. Naruto noted the other teams and the jonin on catwalks.

Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Hinata, Shino, Kiba with his dog, Lee, Neji, and a dark-haired girl who Naruto didn't know were all of the Leaf ninja who had made it. He saw Kakashi on the catwalk with a jonin wearing green spandex who looked just like Lee, but older. Among the Leaf jonin, there was a woman with long, dark hair and red eyes next to a tall man with short, spikey black hair and a beard.

There was a team from Sand, Clouds, Rocks, and Mist each. The Mist jonin was a tall woman with long, auburn hair and green eyes. Naruto recognized her from his first C-rank mission. He hadn't had much contact with any of the genin, but he knew that ninja would be tricky no matter what and wasn't overconfident.

"…at random, so make your way to the catwalks with your jonin-sensei," the Hokage finished.

'_Crap. I wasn't paying attention to what the old man was saying. Here's hoping I'm not first up,_' Naruto thought.

The entire group of genin proceeded up the catwalks while a proctor waited in the middle of the arena. Everyone was looking up at a giant board expectantly. Two names came up: Choji Akimichi and not Naruto. Choji hopped into the arena along with one of the ninja with a Rock symbol on his forehead protector.

The proctor called, "Fight!" and Choji took up a defensive stance. The Rock-nin pulled out a kunai and threw it, but Choji dodged. When Choji dodged, the other ninja made hand signs and a wall of earth came up in front and behind Choji. The other ninja made more signs and the walls smashed into each other, but Choji broke the walls by expanding his body.

Choji turned into an oversized bowling ball and rolled around, chasing the ninja from Rock, until the Rock ninja made more hand signs and trapped Choji in a giant earthen box. After a few minutes of slamming noises from the inside of the box, the proctor called the match for the Rock ninja.

The giant board changed and two more names came up. Naruto didn't recognize either, but a ninja from Mist with a sword and a ninja from Cloud with a sword hopped down into the arena. That battle was short, because the Cloud-nin charged his sword with lightning and cut the Mist-nin's sword in half and then stabbed the Mist-nin through the arm, pinning the Mist-nin to the wall while his other hand held a kunai at the Mist-nin's throat. The proctor called the match for the Cloud-nin.

The giant board changed again, reading "Naruto Uzumaki" and "Kankuro of the Desert." Naruto hopped down as did the Sand ninja dressed in black with strange face paint. Kankuro had a bundle on his back that Naruto wondered about, but he got into a fighting stance.

The proctor called, "Fight!" and Naruto body-flickered at the same time creating four shadow clones. He hit Kankuro, knocking the Sand genin back, but Kankuro's head opened up, revealing a nozzle that hissed at Naruto. Naruto replaced himself with a shadow clone that dispersed as it inhaled poison gas and three others body-flickered around the puppet. One hit the puppet with a low sweep kick, the second simultaneously hit it with a roundhouse kick to the torso, and a split second later the third dropped an axe kick, breaking the strange puppet into pieces with an explosion and a crack in the ground beneath it. The cloud of puppet pieces dispelled the three clones.

As the shadow-clones were dismantling the puppet, Naruto body-flickered to the Sand ninja who was controlling the puppet and kicked him with a roundhouse kick hard enough to make a wet crunch sound and send the Sand ninja flying hard to the ground. Some of the jonin were making conversation, but the conversations ended when Naruto destroyed the puppet and crunched the puppeteer at the same time.

The proctor called the match when it was obvious that Kankuro had a broken arm and several broken ribs. "Sorry I kicked you so hard," Naruto said to the injured Kankuro who had a terrified look plastered on his face. "I thought you were another puppet," Naruto tried to explain, but the medics carted the Sand-nin off out of the arena.

Naruto returned to the catwalk where the jonin in green spandex approached him. "The flames of your youth burn bright, Naruto!" the man exclaimed.

"Uhh… Yeah. Right. Who are you again?" Naruto asked, confused.

"I am Might Gai! Kakashi's eternal rival!" Gai exclaimed. "Your taijutsu is nearly as good as my beautiful student, Lee!"

'_Yeah, except he flawlessly mixed basic ninjutsu into his taijutsu,_' thought the bearded jonin. '_His taijutsu is close to jonin level and the skill of the ninjutsu that he employed is nearly the same. But the council will have a hard time approving the kid for promotion. I'm glad none of my students had to fight him._'

"Just watch, sensei! I will prove that someone can be a ninja even without ninjutsu and genjutsu!" exclaimed the miniature version of the green-spandex jonin.

The board flickered, quickly diverting Naruto's attention from the weird pair, showing Hinata Hyuuga and Temari of the Desert. The shyest girl from their class jumped down along with the blonde girl with a giant fan from the Sand.

"Do your best, Hinata!" Naruto cheered. The girl had obvious self-confidence problems and Naruto didn't see anyone else jumping into her corner, but no sooner had he cheered, Kiba yelled out,

"Come on Hinata! You can beat her!"

The proctor yelled, "Fight!" and Hinata took up a strange taijutsu stance. Naruto looked at the rest of the genin from his class. Only Naruto and Kiba were cheering.

"Come on, guys. Show your support for your comrade! GO HINATA! YOU CAN DO IT!" he shouted.

Shikamaru, Ino, Lee, and Shino joined Kiba and Naruto in cheering for Hinata. Temari was staying away from Hinata and Hinata had activated her byakugan. Temari used her massive fan to unleash a wind ninjutsu, but Hinata rapidly spun around, creating a dome of chakra that diverted the jutsu.

'_They're all cheering for me! I can't let them down!_' Hinata thought as she ran forward, attempting to strike the elusive Sand-nin, but Temari was faster, keeping Hinata at bay. Hinata pulled several kunai out and threw them at Temari, hoping that it would force the Sand-nin into a close-combat battle, but the kunai merely missed. Hinata could see the wind that Temari had used to divert the kunai and knew that the battle would come down to which one of them had more stamina.

After many long minutes of battle, Hinata ran out of chakra diverting one of Temari's wind jutsu and the match ended when she collapsed from exhaustion and the wind jutsu tossed her across the arena, but it was longer than many on the catwalks thought it would be, especially Neji and Gaara.

Kakashi turned to the woman with red eyes and said, "You look surprised, Kurenai."

"She's never fought so hard is all," Kurenai mumbled. "I wonder what it was that finally motivated her."

"I wonder," Kakashi smiled behind his mask while reading his romance novel.

Naruto turned to the arena where Sakura and a girl with two buns in her brown hair were about to start. Naruto noted that the other name on the board was Tenten.

"Come on, Sakura! You can do it!" he cheered.

Both kunoichi took taijutsu stances. Tenten started by throwing several kunai and throwing stars at Sakura, but Sakura dodged with a body-flicker and engaged Tenten up close. Tenten pulled out a kunai, slashing at Sakura, but Sakura back-flipped away, drawing a kunai of her own. Sakura quickly pressed back in, kunai in hand, but the two were near even at taijutsu.

'_This only worked on Naruto the first time, but maybe I'll get lucky and Tenten hasn't trained against genjutsu like we have,_' Sakura thought.

Sakura took the initiative and quickly made the hand signs for the one genjutsu she had learned from Kakashi, putting Tenten into the Hell-Viewing Jutsu. Using her opponent's momentary paralysis, Sakura rapidly struck Tenten from behind, knocking Tenten out.

"Well, my eternal rival," Gai started, "it seems that your student has surpassed mine. I will ensure that my student trains even harder from now on!"

The board flickered, reading Neji Hyuuga and one of the Cloud kunoichi. Both jumped into the arena, ready for battle.

"Fate has decreed that I will win. There is no shame in surrender," Neji droned at the Cloud kunoichi before the proctor even started the match.

"Shut up and fight, you fatalistic freak," the Cloud kunoichi spat back.

"Fight!" shouted the proctor.

Neji activated his byakugan and the kunoichi started with hand signs. Neji paused for a moment before blinking once and moving toward the kunoichi. She simply started a new set of hand signs, which ultimately did nothing to stop Neji's advance.

'_Using genjutsu against the byakugan. Bad idea, sweetie,_' Kurenai thought. '_That's almost as useless as using genjutsu against the sharingan._'

Neji closed and began striking softly. The kunoichi from Clouds thought she was blocking his strikes, but Neji began ticking off numbers.

"Two," he started. "Four," he said a moment later. "Eight," he rapidly progressed. "Sixteen," he mumbled as his strikes gained even more speed. "Thirty-two," he said as the kunoichi noticed that she wasn't able to block anymore. "Sixty-four," he said as the kunoichi felt exhausted. "Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms," Neji breathed. He could see that the girl's entire chakra network was shut down. "You cannot continue. Fate has spoken," Neji intoned as he walked back to the catwalk.

The girl managed to stand up and trip herself, falling unconscious to the ground. The proctor called the match. The board flickered, showing Kiba Inuzuka and one of the Mist ninja. Naruto was stunned at Neji's cold demeanor, while Lee said with as much determination as Naruto had ever heard, "That is my main competition. I will defeat him."

The proctor yelled, "Fight!" and the Mist-nin unleashed a white fog that covered the entire battlefield. Kiba yelled in animalistic fury and a twister erupted from the mist to strike down again. The Mist-nin had a sword out which had blocked Kiba's attack, but his sword was now cracked.

"How did you find me?" the Mist-nin asked.

"Pfft. There's more than one sense," Kiba scoffed.

"I see," the Mist-nin muttered, already making hand signs. "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" A giant water dragon erupted from the dissipating mist, but Kiba responded with his own attack. "Garoga!" Kiba and Akamaru were identical, but they spun together, creating the vortex to strike directly at the water jutsu. The Mist-nin ended the water jutsu, but threw a storm of kunai and shuriken forcing Kiba and Akamaru to dodge backward while he made several hand signs.

"Water Style: Rotting Mist!" The Mist-nin summoned a fogbank of acrid yellow, but this time Kiba and Akamaru screamed as soon as they smelled it. Kiba yelled out that he resigned the match before the Mist-nin had a chance to attack.

The board flickered again, showing Sasuke Uchiha and Rock Lee. Lee jumped down to the arena, taking up a taijutsu stance. Sasuke activated his sharingan and took up a defensive stance. The proctor yelled, "Fight!" and Lee swiftly moved in to engage Sasuke. Lee wasn't as fast as a body-flicker and Sasuke was accustomed to fighting three or four body-flickering Naruto's simultaneously, so he was able to keep up with Lee, but only just.

Lee struck with a more refined leg sweep than Naruto, spinning up into an axe kick that dropped onto Sasuke's block. Sasuke rolled with the kick and tumbled to the side. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" A ball of fire blasted out of Sasuke's mouth, forcing Lee to retreat. Sasuke followed it up with half a dozen kunai thrown at several spots around Lee, hoping that at least one would find a home. Lee dodged them all and ran in to engage again.

Sasuke whipped down into the same sweep kick that Lee had previously used against him, but Lee picked up both legs and launched like a missile at Sasuke, striking him in the chest with both feet. Sasuke rolled again, throwing Lee off. Sasuke body-flickered behind Lee, trying to grab the taijutsu expert. Lee felt Sasuke behind him and whispered, "Gate of Opening," as the first of his eight gates opened and he evaded Sasuke's grasp.

"How many gates can Lee open?" Kakashi asked Gai.

"Five," Gai smiled and then he yelled, "Remove your training weights, my precious student!"

Both combatants looked up at the catwalk, but Lee replied, "But Sensei—"

"DON'T ARGUE! JUST DO IT, LEE!" Gai screamed.

"I'll wait," Sasuke said. Lee took off the heavy weights that had been around his ankles, which fell to the ground with a loud clang. "Can we continue?" Sasuke asked. Lee nodded, moving almost as fast as a body-flicker.

Sasuke continued blocking, still accustomed to three or four simultaneous attacks. Compared to Lee's rapid succession of attacks, he could still keep up a good defense, but a single target was much more difficult to hit than three or four targets. Lee partially unraveled the bandages on his hands and forearms, continuing his assault on Sasuke. Sasuke dropped his defense to see what Lee would do and Lee wrapped him in his hanging bandages.

As Lee began his spin, Sasuke used a shadow-clone as a replacement and watched the technique from two angles. His shadow-clone dispersed, leaving Lee triumphant, until Lee realized that it had been a shadow-clone. Sasuke engaged Lee again, this time using Lee's own moves against him. Lee had long practiced with Gai using the same techniques, so he simply whispered, "Gate of Healing," and fought harder.

Sasuke, having seen how to open the first gate from Lee replied, "Gate of Opening," and increased his speed to keep up with Lee.

"How many gates can Sasuke open?" Gai asked Kakashi.

"I have no idea. I never taught him the technique," Kakashi replied.

"Without physical training, it is impossible to learn to open the gates," Gai retorted.

"Sasuke trains with Naruto every day," Kakashi countered.

Gai grumbled as he watched his student's skin turn red and muttered, "Gate of Life."

Sasuke kept up with Lee only due to his intense training with Naruto and the benefit of his sharingan. He had no illusions that he would be able to keep up without either of those advantages. "Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu!" Sasuke unleashed a swarm of fireballs at Lee as he tossed shuriken at the speeding, green taijutsu freak. Lee batted the fireballs, seeming to ignore them as he flew toward Sasuke.

'_Maybe if I open that second gate? Shit! He's starting to move faster than I can,_' Sasuke thought as he opened the second gate. The two furiously fought for long seconds before Sasuke had a realization. '_Dammit. This is stupid! He admitted that he can't use genjutsu or ninjutsu. He's only used taijutsu so far, so he probably can't defend against it._' Sasuke locked eyes with the furious Lee before disengaging and watching Lee fight harder and harder against an illusory enemy. Lee opened the fourth gate, but Gai stepped in realizing that Lee was trapped in Sasuke's simple genjutsu. The proctor called the match as soon as Gai intervened.

The board flashed, showing Shino Aburame and the last Mist ninja. The two met in the arena and the proctor yelled, "Fight!" The Mist-nin started making hand signs, but a swarm of insects surrounded the poor girl. Shino remained calm in the middle of the massive insect swarm.

"You'll find that I'm not susceptible to genjutsu," Shino commented as the girl tried two different genjutsu on him.

"No! I CAN'T lose!" she screamed as the insects drained her chakra.

"It's unfortunate that you were paired with me then, because you WILL lose," Shino stated as the girl started to waver. She threw a kunai that Shino easily avoided. The proctor called the match as the girl collapsed from exhaustion moments later.

"How boring," the Mist jonin commented.

The board flickered again, revealing Ino Yamanaka and the last kunoichi from Cloud. She hopped down into the arena and the two stared at each other before the proctor yelled, "Fight!" Ino left strands of her hair as traps all over the arena while the other kunoichi charged her body with lightning chakra.

Ino backed herself against a wall as the Cloud kunoichi tried to run through her hair traps, but it gave Ino enough time to aim her Mind Body Switch Jutsu. Ino's body collapsed as she inhabited the Cloud kunoichi. As the Cloud kunoichi, she said, "I quit."

The proctor said, "Okay. Since Ino Yamanaka is unconscious and you quit, both of you lose the match."

Ino released the jutsu and stood up in her own body screaming about it being unfair. After several minutes of heated dispute, she decided against revealing her clan's signature intelligence gathering technique and took the loss.

The board flickered to reveal Shikamaru Nara and the kunoichi from Rock. He strolled down to the arena floor and started to say, "I quit," but before he got it out, Ino yelled, "If you quit, I'll tell your mother!"

"How troublesome," Shikamaru muttered. "Let's get this over with."

"Fight!" the proctor yelled.

Shikamaru threw out several kunai, some of which had exploding tags to distract the kunoichi. She dodged and started making hand signs, but Shikamaru said, "Shadow Possession Jutsu, complete," and the kunoichi found she was frozen in place. Shikamaru walked backward and she walked backward until she bumped into the arena wall. Shikamaru said, "Sorry about this, but this was the fastest way to get this over with," as he bent forward and so did she. He whipped his head backwards into empty space, but the kunoichi knocked herself out on the wall. The proctor called the match.

The board flickered again and the last two names came up. Gaara of the Desert and the last ninja from Rock entered the arena. "Will you prove my existence?" Gaara said, bloodlust dripping from his voice.

The proctor yelled, "Fight!" and the Rock-nin made hand signs in rapid succession. The Rock-nin fired off a bunch of rocks at Gaara, but sand always intercepted the bullets. Nothing managed to penetrate as the Rock-nin tried attack after attack. Gaara finally got bored and the sand formed a claw, grabbing the Rock-nin and slamming him into the ground with a cough of blood. The sand continued to crush the Rock-nin after the proctor called the match, forcing the Sand Jonin to step in and calm Gaara, who just kept muttering, "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

The jonin and remaining genin gathered in front of the Hokage. "Before you take a month to prepare yourselves, you will all draw numbers to determine your matches in the public arena," the Hokage said with practiced authority. "Step forward and draw your numbers."

The proctors called out numbers as they filled out a chart. Neji would fight Sakura. Sasuke would fight Gaara. Naruto would fight the Mist-nin. The Cloud-nin would fight the Rock-nin. Shino would fight Temari. And Shikamaru would skip the first round.

—Naruto's house, that evening—

"We all made it!" Naruto exclaimed to Kushina and Jiraiya. "The whole team is in the finals!"

Sasuke sat quietly on the couch, reading a book of poetry that he'd come to enjoy after picking it up some years ago.

"Who do you have to fight, Naruto?" Jiraiya asked, genuinely curious. He hadn't been to a chunin exam since his own decades ago, but he planned to see Naruto's chunin exam. '_And that's why you master the basics,_' he thought.

"Some guy from Mist," Naruto said. "Sasuke has to fight that crazy sand guy and Sakura is going to fight Neji."

"I'll work on a training program after I talk to Kakashi, Naruto, but I expect that you three will start training separately," Jiraiya explained. "You might have to fight each other in later rounds, so it makes sense to give you all the best chance of success."

"Kakashi already spoke to me, Jiraiya. He expects that you'll train Naruto and since Kurenai has a student in the finals and he doesn't want to call in any other favors, I'm going to train Sakura, while he trains Sasuke," Kushina explained.

They were all surprised by the knock at the door. Everyone except the Hokage that they knew usually used the window. Naruto opened the door to find Hinata, looking petrified.

"H-hello, N-Naruto," she stammered.

Naruto looked outside, down the hall both ways, while Hinata stood stunned at Naruto's abrupt response. "Hi, Hinata! You'd better come in before the hall-monster get you," he teased. Hinata didn't know how to respond.

Kushina pushed Naruto out of the way and said to the terrified girl, "Why don't you come in and have some tea? It'll calm your nerves and we can chat like civilized people," with a warm, welcoming smile.

Hinata entered slowly, sitting in a chair whispering, "Thank you, Uzumaki-san." She looked at Jiraiya, who stared at her and Sasuke, who ignored her.

"Damn, boy! You got girls knocking down the door to get to you!" Jiraiya exclaimed as Naruto and Jiraiya started another boisterous argument over the propriety of commenting on Naruto's non-existent love life. Naruto led the sannin to the couch where they would bother Sasuke instead of Hinata.

'_Damn, she's cute. And not already hung up on Sasuke,_' Naruto thought while he argued. '_But she's the heir to a major clan, so maybe it isn't the best idea to get tangled up with her._'

Hinata sipped her tea while Jiraiya and Naruto made noise in the background. Kushina gave her a reassuring look and said, "Now then. What can I do for you, Hyuuga-sama?"

"Please, call me Hinata," Hinata started. "I know that I'm not in the finals, but I was wondering if you wouldn't mind training me. You are reputed to have the most stamina of any kunoichi in history and I am weak in that area. Additionally, I thought that I might include Sakura because she is going to fight my cousin and I would dearly like to see him lose."

'_This is perfect! It couldn't have worked out better if someone was planning it!_' Kushina thought. "I think that we can arrange that, Hinata. But will your family have any problems with it?"

"My father is grooming my sister to take over the clan and my team won't be on any missions, so I doubt he would have noticed, but I asked him before I came here anyway and he told me that it wouldn't bother him," Hinata explained.

"ALL HYUUGA WOMEN HAVE GIANT BREASTS!" Jiraiya screamed, holding his hands in front of his chest. Hinata blushed, but pretended not to hear it.

"SHE'S RIGHT OVER THERE AND WE'RE ONLY THIRTEEN, YOU OBNOXIOUS, PERVERTED, PEDOPHILE!" Naruto screamed back.

"I'M SAYING FOR YOU NOT FOR ME! AND I'M JUST A PERVERT! I'M NOT A PEDOPHILE!" Jiraiya defended, before noticing Kushina, Sasuke, Naruto, and Hinata all staring at him. He stopped screaming and calmly said, "Right. I'll go find a hotel then," fleeing out the window at top speed, fearing for his life.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I own nothing about Naruto.

A/N: A great big training sequence. A literary montage, if you will. I hope nobody likes it because I don't want to write another one. Montages are not as bad as flashbacks, but they come dangerously close.

Reviews: write them. After you actually read the chapter, preferably, but beggars can't be choosers.

**Chapter 8**

"There's an OWNER'S MANUAL for the sharingan!?" Kakashi asked Sasuke as the two entered the Uchiha family temple, displaying an uncharacteristic level of surprise. Sasuke brought Kakashi into the secret room under the temple to get Kakashi to teach him to unlock more aspects of his own sharingan, not realizing that Kakashi had never seen it.

"All Uchiha know about the stone under the temple," Sasuke explained. "It's amazing that you've managed to mature the sharingan that you have without any instruction, Kakashi-sensei. Even with the instructions, not every member of the Uchiha clan awakened or fully developed their sharingan."

The two read the face of the large tablet before activating their sharingan eyes. The tablet looked different under Kakashi's single, fully developed eye than it did to Sasuke's two, under-developed eyes.

—Training Ground 4—

"After you sign the contract, you'll be able to attempt summoning the toads," Jiraiya lectured.

"Yes. I understand, Pervy-sensei. Pull out the scroll already!" Naruto exclaimed.

Jiraiya pulled out the scroll and Naruto signed it. Before Jiraiya even rolled up the scroll, Naruto ran through the summoning seals and pumped as much chakra as his highly overdeveloped chakra network could produce into the very exact seal for summoning. Gamabunta appeared under the startled blonde.

"I knew all of the practice would pay off!" Jiraiya noted.

The enormous toad looked around before grumbling, "What the hell, Jiraiya? I don't see a battle. And why are you down there?"

Jiraiya chuckled, "I'm not the one who summoned you," as he pointed to the blonde standing atop the giant frog.

"Who are you?" the toad rumbled.

"Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto introduced. "What's your name, big guy?"

"I am Gamabunta and if you want to summon the toad clan, then you have to prove yourself worthy," the toad boomed.

"How does that work?" Naruto asked.

"Hang on," Gamabunta muttered as he started jumping around.

—Uzumaki apartment—

"What do you mean, I have to take off my clothes?" Sakura exclaimed.

"You're fighting a Hyuuga. We just so happen to have one of our own. You are going to learn where each and every one of your tenketsu are located. You are going to learn it because you won't be able to stop Neji from closing them. You are going to learn it because you are NOT going to lose in the first thirty seconds of the match. Now shut up and strip so Hinata can put the henna paint on you," Kushina admonished.

Hinata stood in Kushina's bedroom with her byakugan active and a needle with henna paint in her hand. It wasn't as if Hinata couldn't see through all of Sakura's clothes anyway.

—Uchiha temple, underground—

"We have more training to do," Kakashi said. "We should leave."

"But what if there's more?" Sasuke asked.

"We won't learn it by staring at the stone," Kakashi replied.

"Right," Sasuke stated, not looking away.

Kakashi grabbed the boy by the collar and dragged him out into the night sky. They'd been staring at the stone tablet all day.

—Training Ground 4—

"You've read about chakra natures, so I won't bore you by repeating it. Right now though, you're going to train all five. I don't expect that you'll master all of them, but with shadow-clones to cheat, you'll get the most out of your time," Jiraiya started.

"Why can't you just teach me some jutsus?" Naruto whined.

"Because you want to be able to do any jutsu, not just one jutsu. Your control is great right now, but you need to learn to change your chakra nature," Jiraiya explained.

"So I'll just make a hundred clones and then we'll all work on the exercises," Naruto grumbled.

"No. You'll make 25 clones and then you will do taijutsu training and meditation with me, dispelling and creating one group every ten minutes. A mass of clones will eventually have minor differences and through trial and error, you'll find ways to do better at each exercise, individually. Each clone you'll be using will be trying a slightly different, but related exercise so that anything that one clone in each group learns can apply to any of the other clones in the group. This will make your training much more efficient so that you will learn how to change chakra natures much more quickly than the months or years that it might normally take," Jiraiya lectured.

"I think I get it. Start showing me the exercises," Naruto said as he created 25 shadow clones.

—Private Training Ground 3—

"You've got the speed down and, thanks to Lee and your training with Naruto, you've already figured out how to unlock two of the gates, but you'll have to rest up before you can do that again. Since we wasted yesterday reading the tablet in the Uchiha shrine, we'll have to make up for that today by moving extremely fast. Keep your sharingan active for as long as you can and let me know if I move too fast for you to keep up," Kakashi lectured as he started to fight Sasuke.

—Uzumaki apartment—

"This henna stuff doesn't come off, Kushina-san," Sakura whined.

"That's the point. It'll last for a month and we only had to apply it once. Start where we left off. Try to open your tenketsu after Hinata shuts it," Kushina lectured, reading a magazine advertisement for a hot spring. "Once you can do that, you'll be ready for the next phase of your training. Beating Neji will be meaningless if you can't at least put up a good fight to whoever is after him."

—Training Ground 4—

"I've mastered the wind nature exercises, Pervy-sensei," Naruto crowed.

"Perfect. Now try using wind chakra in the techniques that you already know with it," Jiraiya muttered while looking through binoculars.

"Can't you stop looking at the springs for five minutes to teach me something!" Naruto exclaimed.

"I AM teaching you something! You just aren't learning it! Now do what I say until you've mastered all five elements!" Jiraiya shot back.

—Private Training Ground 3—

"Faster, Sasuke!" Kakashi yelled as a fist shot out. "You have to be faster if you want to activate the third tomoe!" as he activated genjutsu distractions in rapid succession.

"GAH! You're trying to KILL me!" Sasuke screamed.

"Maybe. Maybe not. But Gaara most certainly will! Don't quit!" Kakashi screamed.

—Uzumaki apartment—

"So you can open and close your tenketsu at will, without striking them?" Kushina asked.

Sakura swore, "Not yet. Don't we have other things to study though?"

"Not until you can open and close your tenketsu without your hands," Kushina said flatly.

"Kushina-san?" Hinata asked. "How is this helping my stamina?"

"Are you tired at the end of the day?" Kushina asked.

"Yes," Hinata answered.

"Are your muscles sore at the end of the day?" Kushina replied.

"Yes," Hinata answered again.

"It's only been a week. You can't really expect a significant increase in that short time period. Once Sakura starts learning medical ninjutsu in earnest, we should be able to up the training significantly. But we won't be able to start that until she learns to control her tenketsu," Kushina smiled. "So HURRY UP, SAKURA!" she yelled.

And then Kushina went back to reading another magazine.

—Training Ground 4—

"When I use wind chakra with shadow-clones, I can't make any clones. When I use wind chakra with body-flicker, I just get a gust of wind with me when I move and I can keep going for much longer than normal. What use is that?" Naruto asked.

"Have you tried body-flicker on just one part of your body at a time instead of your whole body at once?" Jiraiya asked.

"Wait. You can do that?" Naruto responded.

"Yes. Now try it with neutral chakra, then with wind chakra," Jiraiya whispered through a hangover. "And let me know when you can do anything with any other nature," he said as he nodded off in a lounge chair.

—Private Training Ground 3—

Kakashi pulled up his headband to reveal his own three-tomoe sharingan. "You have to be faster, Sasuke, or I will definitely kill you," he intoned with deadly intent. "Dodging or opening any gates won't save you. You have to perceive faster."

'_How the hell am I supposed to DO that?_' Sasuke thought as Kakashi started moving ever faster.

Kakashi fought harder and faster, keeping his demeanor cold and cruel until Sasuke couldn't keep up. He threw kunai closer and closer to Sasuke, waiting for Sasuke's eyes to morph into the three-tomoe sharingan that indicated it had reached full maturity.

'_I still have three days to get his sharingan to mature. I don't need to start teaching him the basis of Chidori until then,_' Kakashi thought as one of his kunai left a hair-thin streak of blood across Sasuke's arm.

—Leaf Hospital—

"You are going to learn two basic healing techniques. The first is how to repair minor damage. The second is how to reinforce tissues and project your chakra into a blow. Hinata is going to come with me and we'll be back when I have to carry her," Kushina explained.

"Are you dumping me off at the hospital to train Hinata?" Sakura asked.

"No. I'm leaving you with experienced medics to teach you the principals involved in the techniques that you are going to need by the time I get done with Hinata," Kushina explained. "You've already studied basic anatomy. Now, you're going to get a four-day crash course and a few rounds in practical application. We'll see where you're at afterward," Kushina lectured. "Hurry up or you'll be late. I had to call in some very old favors to get this for you."

Sakura started following around the medic-nin, asking questions about the two topics Kushina had mentioned, much to the annoyance of the medic-nin.

—Ichiraku Ramen—

"I'm doing much better with earth chakra, but I'm still lagging with fire, lighting, and water. I don't get it. The harder I try, the worse those elements get," Naruto complained over lunch.

"Those elements aren't about pure effort, Naruto. Only earth is about sheer stubbornness. You know that. Focus on what those elements ARE at their cores and you should make some more progress," Jiraiya said between slurps of ramen.

Naruto stopped and slapped his forehead. "Of course! I got wind quickly and have been using it with taijutsu already and earth is coming along, so I've been using the ideas from molding earth and chakra with the other elements, but the ideas are incompatible with the nature of the chakra! Why didn't you tell me that, Pervy-sensei?"

Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Why didn't I tell you that just now," he said flatly.

"I figured out how to use a partial body-flicker with wind chakra to make my blows have a cutting quality though. That was pretty awesome, right?"

Jiraiya looked at his tattered shirt. "It's a great combat technique, Naruto. But your meditation is still terrible. We're going to start doing a stillness exercise tomorrow that will help you a lot in the future."

"But meditation is boring," Naruto whined.

"You'll thank me someday," Jiraiya muttered as he ignored the whining blonde.

—Private Training Ground 3—

"You almost killed me!" Sasuke screamed.

"Your sharingan is now fully matured. It never would have happened without the life-or-death stress," Kakashi defended. "Now we can work on your chakra nature. It should be a matter of days for you to master lightning chakra enough to perform the one unique jutsu that I've created."

"Wait. What? You're going to teach me your unique jutsu? What is it?" Sasuke said, more interested.

"It's an assassination technique. It is purely offensive in nature and it's not something that you should use lightly, but Gaara might not give you a choice and I'm not going to send you to die at his hands in the arena," Kakashi explained.

"So all of this was just training? You weren't trying to kill me?" Sasuke asked.

"I haven't given you a chance to think about it, but I'm a jonin listed in bingo books and you're a genin. If I wanted to kill you, do you really think that it would have taken this long? Hurry up and finish your lunch so that we can get back to training," Kakashi said, already finished with his food.

—Uzumaki apartment—

"How am I supposed to heal a torn muscle? I barely got the theory from that guy at the hospital!" Sakura complained loudly.

"You had four days, you already knew more than half of it, and you've been bragging about your perfect chakra control since we met. Stop being melodramatic and heal Hinata's arm," Kushina brow-beat the pink-haired girl.

"I'm not even sure how!" Sakura went on.

"Figure it out soon or you're going to have to spar with me next," Kushina threatened with a feral grin. "And I make Sasuke and Naruto look like quitters when it comes to stamina."

Sakura screamed with nervous laughter as Hinata quietly waited for the would-be chunin to figure out a healing technique based on theory and perfect chakra control that Hinata knew didn't actually exist yet. Hinata absently thought, '_Poor Sakura. Kushina is really pushing her. But if she can do this, then Neji won't be able to win._'

—Training Ground 4—

"I can't quite use lightning as well as wind or earth, but I'm close. Water is still a problem and fire is barely any better. We've still got a week left. Shouldn't I keep training with the elements, Pervy-sensei?"

"It's time to start incorporating the nature transformations into the jutsu that you already know. Plus, you're going to practice the practical application of seals. I know Kushina has given you scrolls, so we're going to focus primarily on putting what you know to use for the next six days," Jiraiya explained.

"Why not seven days?" Naruto asked.

"You don't want to be totally bushed on the day of the arena, so you'll take the last day to rest. We're going to the hot springs just outside of town. We're meeting Sasuke and Kakashi as well as Kushina, Hinata, and Sakura," Jiraiya smiled.

"You're not implying that you're going to peep on my mother and two of my peers, are you Pervy-sensei?"

"I'm offended, Naruto. There are plenty of other women for me to peep on," Jiraiya smiled. '_And some of them pay for the privilege,_' Jiraiya imagined some of his favorite jobs.

—Private Training Ground 3—

Sasuke breathed heavily. He'd just put a hole in a boulder the length of his arm with his Chidori. It was the second of the day and he was nearly exhausted.

"That's it. You can only perform this jutsu twice in a day. Any more and you'll burn out your chakra and your stamina, which would result in your death," Kakashi's arms were folded as he watched. "You have deeper chakra reserves than most ninja your age and you've got a fully mature sharingan."

"But not a Mangekyo Sharingan," Sasuke interrupted.

"What would you rather have: friends or the Mangekyo Sharingan?" Kakashi asked redundantly.

"Can't I have both?" Sasuke asked.

"There is no way that I know of to have both, Sasuke. It's one or the other. Believe me when I tell you that I would trade almost anything to get my friends back. If I had a choice, I would choose friends," Kakashi said forlorn.

—Uzumaki apartment—

"You can knit some of your tissues back together, Sakura, but you can't enhance them with your chakra," Kushina evaluated. "It's a great battlefield tactic, but I was hoping that you'd master the latter rather than the former."

"It's not like I can heal everything, Kushina-san; just minor tears. I don't know how I'm going to beat Neji," Sakura whined.

"Sakura, you'll be sparring against Hinata for the next two days. But you will only defend, never attack. If you don't see the benefit of your training, then I'll happily track down any instructor of your choosing to teach you after the exams," Kushina explained. "Hinata, Sakura has been training with Naruto and Sasuke to get her endurance up. The both of you will keep fighting until I get tired."

"Until I get tired?" the two asked in stereo.

"No. Until I get tired of fighting. I'll be watching from this comfortable lounge chair," Kushina smiled and showed off the lounge chair she'd stolen from Jiraiya.

Hinata and Sakura mentally screamed in horror. Screaming out loud only resulted in Kushina's demented laughter haunting them throughout an exercise.

—Training Ground 4—

"Holy crap! Lightning chakra is the best body-flicker augmentation ever!" Naruto screamed.

"If we had more time, I'd start teaching you some more advanced chakra shaping exercises, but we'll save that for later. Why aren't you using any earth chakra though? You're much better at it than lightning."

"Earth body-flicker is lame. I can barely move. It's not very good for my style and a lightning technique of any kind will punch right through it. Since I don't know any real earth jutsu, I'll just use wind and lightning," Naruto explained.

"If we had more time, I'd teach you some earth techniques, but we have to start making our way to the hot springs. Remember not to give away what we've been training until you fight at the exams," Jiraiya lectured. "Try not to think about it too much. Try to relax tomorrow. Too bad you can't manage to sit still," he muttered.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I own nothing about Naruto.

A/N: Action time. I hope that people like it better than last chapter.

Remember to leave a review about what you like and/or what you don't like.

**Chapter 9**

"The first match will be Neji Hyuuga and Sakura Haruno," the Hokage spoke. "All other examinees should go to the waiting area."

The clamor of the arena was deafening, but everyone was prepared. The genin knew that it was coming and were only mildly nervous about fighting in front of so many people. Daimyos, jonin, merchants, and many others watched the chunin exams in order to evaluate the strength of the ninja they might hire. Naruto and Sasuke wished Sakura luck before retreating to the staging area in the heart of the arena.

"Your fate is to lose, Sakura. You should learn when to quit before you die," Neji intoned as the proctor looked on.

"Two Kages are here today, so giving up without a fight would be stupid for both of us, Neji. Think a little before you give advice," Sakura smirked.

"Fight!" yelled the proctor, jumping out of the way. Neji assumed a stance that Sakura was already familiar with and Sakura body-flickered into Neji's reach, delivering a light blow to his arm. Neji accepted the blow and struck at one of Sakura's tenketsu, closing it. Sakura jabbed several more times, but Neji just used the opportunity to close more of her tenketsu.

Neji had closed off most of the tenketsu in her left arm and several in her other limbs and torso, but Sakura smiled at him and said, "I hope you've got more than that, Neji, or this fight is going to start going south for you very soon," as she opened the closed tenketsu from her core outward, in sequence. The Hyuuga watching in the stadium gasped along with Neji.

'_She can open her tenketsu without touching them? I'll simply have to shut them all down at once,_' the arrogant youth thought. "You are in range of my divination, Sakura," he started to tell the pink-haired girl.

"You are in range of my body-flicker, you arrogant ass," Sakura replied as she body-flickered into his blind spot, delivering a hard kick to the boy's back. Neji rolled to the ground, spinning to his feet and rushing close to Sakura, seemingly unfazed.

"Two," he calmly intoned. "Four," he listed, "eight, sixteen, thirty-two, sixty-four. Eight Trigrams Sixty-four Palms," he said, completing the technique that should instantly incapacitate a foe.

"Oh no!" Sakura gasped. "You've shut down sixty-four of my tenketsu! I feel so tired!" There was only the barest flicker of chakra in her core, so close to absolutely nothing that it might as well have been for anyone else. Once a single core tenketsu opened, she started popping more tenketsu open as she spoke, freeing her trapped chakra. "Oh, wait. Nope," she needled. "My turn," she said as she started wailing on the unsuspecting Neji as Hinata's pent up frustrations flooded out of Sakura.

"Vacuum Palm" Neji expressed as he knocked Sakura back. Neji had several light bruises, but the pink-haired girl was not strong enough to knock him out. Sakura winced as she flew, focusing on the healing jutsu to repair the organ damage as she skidded across the dirt.

She pulled out several kunai and threw them in rapid succession at Neji, creating a barrage that she knew he couldn't dodge. He simply spun, creating a dome of chakra around him that seemed to deflect all of the incoming projectiles.

'_Dammit!_' Sakura cursed inwardly. '_He can't really hurt me with his Gentle Fist, but I can't put enough of a hurt on him to end the match. If only I'd had more time…_'

Sakura body-flickered with a leg sweep, but Neji jumped out of the way as if he'd practiced avoiding leg sweeps thousands of times. Neji approached her again with simple Gentle Fist taijutsu. Sakura put more power behind her blows and focused on keeping her tenketsu open after each strike. She could barely keep up with his strikes, but she was starting to fatigue the so-called genius.

Neji tried to use the Sixty-four Palms again, but Sakura knew that opening a full set of closed tenketsu took more time than Neji would give her again. She quickly used a body-flicker to get as far away from Neji as the arena would allow. Knowing she had to come up with something or she wouldn't be able to last much longer, she tried to channel chakra back into her muscles and bones to give herself a strength boost. She dropped a quick test axe kick into the ground at her feet, leaving a very small, barely noticeable crater under her heal.

'_I know that wasn't right, but it's the best I'm going to be able to do for the rest of this match. I hope it's enough or Neji is gonna win,_' Sakura thought.

"You are in range of my divination," Neji started to intone.

"Shut up, Neji," Sakura exclaimed as she struck him with a medically enhanced fist across his chin, taking only the first two strikes before sending the boy flying. Neji did not expect the force of the blow and tried to roll with the punch, but it had much more power than any of the girl's previous strikes and he was caught off guard enough to fly to the ground. The proctor approached Neji, checked the boy for injuries, and announced,

"Winner: Sakura Haruno!"

The crowd cheered as Sakura waved on her way back to the staging area. She won, which meant that she'd have to fight again after everyone else finished. She didn't have any tricks for beating anyone else, but at least the first match was over. Hinata secretly smiled, knowing that Neji had finally gotten a taste of what it had been like for her for so long, but she found herself feeling sorry for him because being the best had long been the only thing he cared about since his father died.

Naruto and Sasuke waited for Sakura to reach the waiting area before congratulating her. "I knew you were strong, but you took out Neji! He dropped that other girl like it was part of his morning ritual! Way to go, Sakura!" Naruto shouted.

"It was pretty boring, but what matters is that you won, Sakura," Sasuke said. "How did you avoid getting your chakra network shut down by his attacks though?"

"I didn't avoid it. Kushina-sensei taught me how to open and close my tenketsu at will. I have no idea how I'm going to move past the next round though. We kind of specialized during my training," Sakura smiled nervously.

"Next up: Shino Aburame and Tamari of the Desert," an announcer boomed. Temari strolled out with her fan while Shino moved slowly into position.

"Fight!" the proctor shouted before jumping away.

"I wonder if you'll have as much luck against me as you did my teammate," Shino wondered aloud.

"That depends, bug-boy. Are you as weak as she is?" countered Temari.

"You'll find that weakness is relative, I think," Shino opined as his tunneling insects began crawling up Temari's legs.

Temari screamed and danced trying everything she could to scrape them off, even going so far as to glide on her enormous fan, but her panic allowed the chakra eating bugs to feed from her reserves. She barely noticed in time to create a wind jutsu that scattered the bugs.

'_I have to buy more time, but I can't stand still with this guy or he'll get me with those damned bugs,_' she thought, still gliding.

Shino didn't give her a chance to form a plan, however, throwing kunai at the easy target. Temari wasn't worried about the kunai and batted them out of the air easily with a gust of wind before noticing the swarm of bugs behind her. She spent a long few minutes swatting bugs away and moving around until she was simply too exhausted to continue and Shino knocked her unconscious.

"Winner: Shino Aburame!" the proctor announced.

Shino returned to the staging area where everyone congratulated him on a job well done. Kankuro was in the area with Gaara and the two stayed silent while Temari was taken to the medical tent by the Leaf medical-nin.

The same booming voice came over the loud speakers announcing the match between the Cloud-nin and the Rock-nin. Naruto was surprised to see the strange woman from Mist waiting for him as he searched for a bathroom.

"Hello there, Little Flash," she smiled, her arms across her chest.

'_Oh, fuck. Does she know? Is she here to kill me? Play it cool, Naruto. She isn't exhausted anymore,_' Naruto thought. "Hi there," he smiled.

"I came here special, just to watch you fight. Naruto, was it?" He nodded. "Don't disappoint me, Naruto. I don't want to think that I owe a debt to someone weak," she smiled eerily.

Naruto returned after his little detour to find that the Rock-nin had defeated the Cloud-nin. And that the Mist genin was already waiting in the arena.

"Naruto Uzumaki, please report to the arena. Your match is about to begin," the loudspeaker boomed.

Naruto rushed out onto the field, zipping his zipper. "Sorry. Sorry, everyone. I had to take a leak. I'm ready now," he flustered.

"Are you sure, Uzumaki?" the proctor asked. "If you have to take a bathroom break, we can move on to the next match."

"I'm good. I just had to piss. Let's do this already," Naruto exclaimed, getting into a basic taijutsu stance.

"Okay. Fight!" the proctor said, jumping away. The Mist-nin quickly summoned a mist as Naruto just stood there. The mist cleared as the befuddled Mist-nin stood next to where Naruto should have stood, his sword already embedded in the ground after what must have been a horrifyingly powerful swing. The Mist-nin looked around, but missed the flash as Naruto crossed the entire arena from the outer wall.

'_Earth and lightning without hand signs. And the speed is impressive. The blonde, spikey hair and the speed are only confirming my suspicions that he's related to the Yellow Flash. He was supposed to be a bachelor, but that wouldn't be a hard thing to conceal from enemies during war,_' the auburn-haired jonin thought as she watched the fight.

Naruto used an improvised earth technique to tunnel directly beneath his starting spot, replacing himself with a shadow-clone. From his position outside the mist, he used lightning chakra to enhance his speed across the arena and then put wind chakra into his fingertips as he struck the Mist-nin's sword, cutting it where he struck. The Mist-nin leapt back, leaving his broken sword as he wove more hand signs.

Naruto converted his chakra into water chakra and released it in a massive wave, cancelling out the mist field. The Mist-nin's eyes went wide as bad water chakra simply overwhelmed his technique.

'_How could he have that much chakra? It's not even pure water chakra!_' the Mist-nin thought.

Naruto stood looking at the Mist-nin. "Did you want to try anything else or can I try something?" Naruto asked with a smirk. The Mist-nin pulled out a kunai and charged Naruto in a rage. "That'll work," Naruto chuckled, creating a gale-force wind at shoulder-level into the charging Mist-nin. He then put his hands on the ground, creating a chasm beneath the Mist-nin. The Mist-nin fell back into a pit instead of the ground he'd expected.

Naruto used a neutral body-flicker to close into the pit next to the Mist-nin. The Mist-nin threw a shuriken barrage at Naruto, which Naruto dodged by burrowing into the earth. Shadow-clones reached up from beneath the Mist-nin, holding the Mist-nin down where most observers couldn't see or hear them.

"You put on a good show, but the match is mine. You can walk off or be carried off," Naruto said quickly. "I'm giving you the option."

"Carried off," the Mist-nin said seriously. "I can see that you're ninjutsu and taijutsu outclass mine, but if I walk off, it will show weakness."

Naruto was stunned. He hadn't expected that. "Well? Do it already," the Mist-nin hissed. Another arm shot up, wrapping around the Mist-nin's neck, quickly choking him unconscious.

"Winner: Naruto Uzumaki!" the proctor shouted. Naruto strutted off the field, still a little disturbed by the Mist-nin's attitude. The Leaf genin in the staging area congratulated him on a decisive match.

"Gaara of the Desert and Sasuke Uchiha please come to the arena," boomed the loudspeaker. Sasuke hopped down to the arena, waiting for Gaara. Gaara was not far behind.

"Which one of us exists?" Gaara's voice dripped death.

"We both do, psycho," Sasuke activated his sharingan eyes.

"Fight!" yelled the proctor. Sand swirled around Gaara, hypnotic whirls spinning everywhere. Sasuke could see the chakra laced in every grain, but he knew there wasn't much he could do about the sand. A tendril of sand lashed toward Sasuke, but Sasuke dodged it easily. Sasuke tried to run past the sand, but even body-flickers weren't fast enough to bypass it.

'_Naruto's speed might be fast enough, but I'm not sure. I can't duplicate it right now anyway though, so I'll have to think of something else,_' Sasuke thought as he blew a fireball at the motionless redhead protected by sand.

The sand was fast attacking as well, but Sasuke was faster at dodging. He threw kunai that cloned to create a massive barrage, but the sand was always there. Claws of sand erupted, trying to grab him, but he always predicted the sand and dodged easily. Sasuke tried genjutsu but the illusions didn't phase Gaara's bloodlust. Gaara broke the illusions the same way Naruto did: brute force. Sasuke planted explosive tags around the arena as he went back and forth with Gaara, waiting to position the Sand-nin just right for the trap he was setting.

Finally, Gaara stepped into position and Sasuke sent chakra to detonate the tags. Gaara was blasted off his feet, repeatedly, until all of the tags Sasuke had planted were exhausted. Gaara stood, his skin peeling off like sand, his rage evident. A sphere of sand surrounded Gaara as he stood, revealing an eye of sand above and seemingly out of range.

Sasuke knew that the only way to attack Gaara would be to strike through the sand. He momentarily thought how nice it might be to have a byakugan to see through the sand instead of guessing at the inside, but quickly pushed that thought aside. He charged his hand with lightning, the chirping sounds bursting from the jutsu. He started running toward Gaara's sand shell, but the earth rumbled and an explosion sounded from the walls of the village, knocking Sasuke to the ground before he could complete his attack. Sasuke picked himself up and turned to try to see what was happening.

'_What the hell is going on? Why is there a genjutsu over the entire stadium? Or is it the entire village? What was that "boom" just now?_' Sasuke thought as he watched the visiting Kazekage leap from the Kage's box seat a split second before a strange, purple a barrier rose up around it.

Naruto had practiced enough with genjutsu to recognize one and practiced disrupting his chakra as a matter of course throughout any day, but the sleeping jutsu that covered the stadium caught him off guard. By the time he noticed what was happening, the Kazekage was standing next to Sasuke and Gaara was starting to lose his mind in the middle of the arena. Most of the jonin seemed to be pulling themselves out of the genjutsu, but the sounds of battles raging outside the stadium were easily heard.

"Orochimaru!" Jiraiya screamed from the stands as he jumped down to intercept the Kazekage. "We should have killed you years ago!" Jiraiya summoned two toads that Naruto didn't recognize on his shoulders. Naruto watched in horror as Orochimaru extended his head to bite Sasuke, leaving a strange mark on his friend, before facing Jiraiya.

"Kukukuku. Don't you have a village to save, Jiraiya-chan? The Sand is invading and this very arena is going to have the Shukaku on a rampage any minute now," the false-kage pointed at Gaara's sand-covered form. Naruto charged in with a lightning body-flicker to attack the false-kage, but Orochimaru's body impossibly bent to avoid the blonde's strike. "You might be nearly as fast as that annoying Fourth Hokage, boy. But you can't beat me yet," he mocked as he kicked Naruto across the arena.

Jiraiya charged Orochimaru, but the snake-sannin picked up Sasuke's unconscious form and ran. Naruto stood, watching Jiraiya leap after Orochimaru and Sasuke. Most of the jonin and ANBU present had already begun reinforcing the besieged village walls, so few had noticed Gaara growing into a monster the size of a building.

Naruto ran through the summoning signs to bring Gamabunta into the stadium and found himself atop the massive toad. "We have to keep that sand monster from hurting anyone in the stands. We don't have much room, so we'll have to pin it here as quickly as possible, Boss-Toad," Naruto quickly explained.

"That's a great plan, Naruto-boy, but that's a bijuu and I don't have nearly the strength to pin even the one-tail in these tight quarters," Gamabunta rumbled.

"If we don't hurry, that thing is going to start rampaging and a lot of people are going to die!" Naruto exclaimed. "We need to do something quick!"

"Can you do a transformation jutsu?" Gamabunta asked. "I could pin him, if I could take the shape of something with hands or claws."

The sand monster began to roar, waking a few of the genin who had been left behind by the older ninja. "I can think of something. Hang on!" Naruto unleashed a wave of chakra to transform the massive toad into the only thing he could imagine that was that big. For a brief instant, he found himself inside the landscape of the underground plumbing, where he looked into the sealed cage. 'I'm borrowing your form, whatever-your-name-is. I just wanted to let you know, since I think I've just figured out that you're one of the bijuu.'

"BORROWING MY FORM? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?" the angry prisoner boiled from behind its cage.

'I'm fighting a bijuu and the Boss-Toad needs a form with claws or hands to pin it down. I've already transformed him into you,' Naruto explained.

"I CAN HELP YOU. MERELY TEAR THE SEAL FROM THIS GATE AND I WILL DESTROY THE OTHER BIJUU," the fox tempted from its cage.

'Tell me your name and we'll talk about it later,' Naruto replied.

"I AM KURAMA. WHY DO YOU CARE ABOUT MY NAME, LITTLE HUMAN?" it asked, starting to get curious.

'Everyone has a name, Kurama,' Naruto said as his attention shifted back to the battle. He could feel the rage from Kurama still washing over him.

Gamabunta was now shaped like a massive nine-tailed fox and had the sand monster pinned beneath it. Naruto had to maintain his concentration to continue the transformation jutsu, but he could see Gaara unconscious and partially exposed on top of the sand monster. The sand monster began cursing in a strange, grating voice.

"Damn you, kyuubi! Get off me! We can go on a rampage together, man!" the sand monster sang.

"The kyuubi isn't in right now," Gamabunta said, holding the sand monster down.

"Bullshit! I feel the chakra of my tailed brother. Stop messing with me, man!" the sand monster sang back.

"Do you think it's significant that Gaara is asleep right now, Boss-Toad?" Naruto whispered.

"I don't know, Naruto-boy. Is it worth risking everyone's lives to find out?" the giant toad responded, still pinning the squirming sand-creature.

"Naruto!" Hinata exclaimed, jumping on the nine-tailed fox, the veins around her eyes already bulging from her active byakugan.

"Hinata! Perfect! Are you the only one awake?" Naruto asked.

"No, but I was the only one who could see that this is a transformation. The others were all too scared to approach," Hinata explained, all business.

"I think that we can stop this if we can wake Gaara up, but I can't stop concentrating on the transformation or it'll collapse and the sand-monster will be able to kill all of the people still asleep," Naruto explained.

"I will try to wake him," Hinata said, resolutely.

The normally shy girl ran down the fox's nose, leaping from the fox to the sand monster, her arm cocked back to slap the redheaded boy. The sand monster struggled and writhed, having heard the plan, but Hinata was agile enough to compensate and landed the blow before the sand could stop her or catch her.

Gaara shook himself, shocked at the sight of a dark-haired girl standing over him and the blonde boy from the last match transforming out of the giant, red, nine-tailed fox along with a toad the size of a building.

"How? Why?" Gaara asked.

"The monster was going to go on a rampage and nobody else was around," Naruto started. "We barely managed to wake you up," he continued as the sand shifted back into formlessness.

"You beat me. But why am I still alive?" the confused Sand-nin asked.

"Because I don't think that we should kill anyone unless we've exhausted every other option," Naruto said, partially quoting one of his favorite philosophical texts. "Boss-Toad, can you stay here and make sure that the sand-monster doesn't return and go on a killing spree, please?"

"Yeah, sure, kid. Why not?" Gamabunta responded.

"Where are you going, Naruto?" Hinata asked.

Naruto looked around the arena. The purple barrier around the kage box was gone. He could see some of the genin waking more of the attendees in the stadium. He could hear a battle raging at the village walls. He couldn't see Jiraiya or the creepy snake-sannin, but he'd seen which way they'd gone.

"I have to follow Pervy-sensei," Naruto shrugged. "Sasuke just got kidnapped."


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I own nothing about Naruto.

A/N: I'm shifting more of the Japanese terms into English. Bear with me. It should make the story easier to read. I went back and forth on whether to make this chapter incredibly long or just a little short. In the end, I decided that posting a short chapter sooner would be preferable to posting a bloated chapter later.

Tell me what you think of everything in the reviews. Cheers.

**Chapter 10**

"The rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated," Kushina gloated in a spray of blood.

'_The Red Death hasn't been seen in over a dozen years,_' a woman in a Leaf ANBU mask thought. '_Is this her or some sort of ghost?_'

A hand touched the auburn-haired woman's shoulder. "Thank you for assisting us, but we'll need that mask back when the invasion is over," Kakashi whispered. "Foreign-nin shouldn't have them," he smiled behind his cloth mask.

The woman nodded before a body-flicker put her next to the famed Red Death of the Leaf. She let out breath of steam that melted flesh from bones that got her an appreciative nod from the red-haired woman. "I don't know anyone in Leaf who has that kekkei genkai, but you appear to be on our side," Kushina stated. "As long as you're here, keep it that way," she smiled jovially, her face covered in blood.

Mei Terumi shuddered involuntarily at one of the scourges of the Third Great Ninja War. She wasn't afraid of the woman in red, but she could see that the woman in red wasn't afraid of anything and that wasn't something to disregard.

There was a rumble from inside the village and the three saw a massive sand-monster being tackled by an equally enormous nine-tailed fox. Kakashi and Mei gasped involuntarily, but Kushina turned back to the incoming ninja from the Sound village saying coldly over her shoulder, "That isn't the kyuubi. Hold the line."

—The Arena in the Leaf Village—

"We're not going to fight Orochimaru," Naruto explained to Shino and Hinata. "He's a legendary missing-nin. Jiraiya and hopefully the Hokage will be fighting Orochimaru. We just have to get Sasuke back. Wake Shikamaru up if he isn't already and come up with a team that has the best chance of success."

Hinata and Shino started looking for Shikamaru, but Shikamaru stood up and said, "I heard you. This is troublesome."

"There isn't anybody else. We go and we might be able to get Sasuke. You and Shino decide who's coming with me," Naruto said. "And hurry."

"Hinata, can you see them?" Shikamaru asked the girl.

"No," Hinata replied with her head down. "The family members who I'm sure could see are already away."

"That's fine. Find Kiba and Akamaru. Naruto, Kiba, Akamaru, and I will go. Shino, the stadium is obviously your problem unless someone else shows up," Shikamaru said thoughtfully. Shino nodded.

Hinata found Kiba and Akamaru while Shino woke the pair, quickly filling them in on the plan. "We can smell him," Kiba explained. "Follow us."

Naruto, Shikamaru, Kiba, and Akamaru leapt away from the stadium following the scent the snake-nin had left behind. Hinata and Shino started waking ninja, unsure when or how the sleeping genjutsu covering the stadium would wear off.

"…the hell is going on?" Sakura asked groggily.

—The forest a few miles outside of the Leaf Village—

"Kukukukuku. Sensei, you and Jiraiya both fighting me seems unfair. I should bring reinforcements," the snake-nin hissed as he made hand signs.

Jiraiya had summoned two toads to sit on his shoulders and looked more like a toad. Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, the God of Shinobi, was wearing his metal gauntlets and metal war helmet.

Three caskets lifted from the ground, but only two opened, revealing the first two Hokages. The third sank before it had a chance to open and both Sarutobi and Jiraiya thanked their lucky stars that the third coffin didn't open.

"Well, Sarutobi, this is a fine pickle you're in, isn't it?" the Second Hokage asked.

"This is that damned Edo Tensei, isn't it?" the First asked.

"It isn't mine, brother," the Second said.

"It's my student," the Third interrupted, "Orochimaru," pointing at the dark-haired snake-sannin.

Orochimaru put kunai with seal tags into the two resurrected Hokages' heads. "I hate to interrupt, but you're going to fight now," Orochimaru said as the two Hokage ran at Sarutobi and Jiraiya.

'_I already have my prize. It doesn't matter if Jiraiya or Sarutobi-sensei survives as long as they are distracted,_' the snake-nin thought.

"Sealing Technique: Dead Demon Consuming Seal." Hiruzen Sarutobi enacted the sealing jutsu. "Jiraiya, don't let Orochimaru escape."

'_Shit,_' Orochimaru thought. '_Is it time to abandon my plan? No. I just avoid Sarutobi until the seal consumes him then kill Jiraiya._'

Jiraiya launched himself at Orochimaru, forcing the snake-nin to set down Sasuke. Orochimaru and Jiraiya traded blows, but neither gained ground. Orochimaru tried fire jutsus to create space to escape, but Jiraiya countered with water jutsus, staying close. Orochimaru vomited forth a sword, slashing at Jiraiya, but Jiraiya dodged and turned his hair into a hardened steel shell. Jiraiya remained on the defensive, but Orochimaru didn't have any space or time to escape.

A wild-haired monster appeared above Hiruzen Sarutobi, its elongated tongue licking the wakizashi in one hand, while the other held prayer beads. Hiruzen's soul shifted out of his body, behind him into the entangling prayer beads of the shinigami as the First Hokage attacked. Hiruzen grabbed the First Hokage and a tendril shot out of his abdomen where a whirlpool-shaped seal had already formed, sucking the First Hokage in. The Second Hokage attacked from behind, seeing a breach in the Third's defenses, but the Third grappled the Second while the tendril sucked the Second into the seal as well.

Orochimaru could see the shinigami behind Hiruzen, but he used Jiraiya as a shield. Orochimaru stabbed at the Third, trying to kill him before the Third could complete the sealing jutsu. Hiruzen latched on to Orochimaru's sword arm, holding the sword where it had found purchase in his lung. The shinigami pulled Orochimaru's soul out of the body it inhabited, starting with his arm, but Orochimaru was not about to be sealed.

Orochimaru kicked the sword deeper into Hiruzen's chest as a portion of his soul, shaped like his arm ripped from his body and fell into the whirlpool-shaped seal. Hiruzen coughed up blood as the seal consumed his own soul as well, before it could leave his dying body.

Jiraiya continued attacking, but with only one arm, Orochimaru didn't have the advantage he had earlier enjoyed in a fight against the toad-sage. Orochimaru was no longer on the offensive and Jiraiya was forcing him to evade and defend rather than make his way to Sasuke's unconscious form.

"You are impressive, Jiraiya, but can you protect four genin and defeat me?" the snake-nin taunted.

Jiraiya sensed the approaching genin as well, but he also recognized one of the chakra signatures. "Can you defeat the kyuubi if I break open the seal?" Jiraiya bluffed.

"It doesn't matter. You don't have the stomach for it," Orochimaru hissed.

'_If only Tsunade were here,_' Jiraiya thought. '_But I can't stop him with a genin team around. They must be here to get Sasuke, to help fight Orochimaru, or both. None of them are ready for this._'

"You're right. So let's see if you can get away with the Uchiha before you piss off the jinchuuriki," Jiraiya responded.

"Let's," Orochimaru said calmly, pulling his sword from Hiruzen's fallen form.

Naruto, Shikamaru, Kiba, and Akamaru saw the battle between Jiraiya and Orochimaru raging, but skirted around the two, following Sasuke's scent. The three found Sasuke unconscious nearby, but the grey-haired genin from the first day of the exam was standing over him.

"Hey! Orochimaru is attacking the village and he tried to kidnap Sasuke. We're here to get Sasuke back," Naruto said.

"Yes. I see that. Lord Orochimaru isn't going to be pleased if he loses his prize, so I'm afraid you're going to fail," Kabuto said coldly before charging his hand with medical jutsu and rushing at Kiba. Kiba tried to dodge, but Kabuto struck him in the back, severing his spine cleanly, leaving an openly bleeding gash. Kiba fell to the ground, unable to move his legs.

Shikamaru tried to capture Kabuto in his clan's shadow possession jutsu, but Kabuto kept well away from shadows and moved much faster than any of the genin had expected. Naruto body-flickered next to him, landing a deep, cutting blow with wind chakra into Kabuto's chest, but no blood flowed beneath Kabuto's cleanly cut shirt. Kabuto responded by chopping Naruto in the back, just as he had Kiba.

Shikamaru knew that he couldn't beat Kabuto and was on the verge of surrendering, but Kabuto cut his spine as well before he could get the words out. Kabuto picked up Sasuke and shouted, "Lord Orochimaru! I have Sasuke Uchiha and I've disabled the genin. We should leave now!"

Jiraiya looked over to the three bleeding genin as Orochimaru and Kabuto retreated through the woods. "DAMN YOU!" he screamed at the receding snake-nin. He looked down at the bleeding genin and pulled gauze from a pouch. "You three will have to stay still while I make back-boards," he said to the crippled genin as he applied gauze to their open wounds.

Naruto retreated inward to try to avoid boredom. '_It probably won't be productive, but I'm stuck until I heal anyway,_' he thought.

"I CAN HELP YOU, IF ONLY YOU'D REMOVE THIS SEAL," the fox enticed.

'I know, Kurama. I know. It's what would happen after that that concerns me,' Naruto replied.

"YOU COULD RETRIEVE YOUR PRECIOUS SASUKE AND DESTROY OROCHIMARU," the fox continued.

'We've failed. No amount of rampaging or killing is going to change that, Kurama,' Naruto explained, trying to remain calm. 'We've failed and now Sasuke is gone and two of my friends are crippled.'

"DON'T THINK THAT I CARE ABOUT YOU," the fox grumbled. "OR YOUR STUPID FRIENDS."

'Why is it that I heal faster than normal people?' Naruto diverted.

"IT'S BECAUSE OF MY CHAKRA, DUMBASS."

'What does that even mean?' Naruto replied.

"MY YIN CHAKRA WAS SEALED AWAY, LONG AGO, LEAVING ONLY YANG CHAKRA. THIS SEAL LEAKS MY CHAKRA INTO YOUR SYSTEM. ANOTHER REASON TO BREAK THE SEAL: YOU COULD HAVE ALL OF MY CHAKRA AT ONCE."

'I don't think it works like that,' Naruto noted shakily.

"Pervy-sensei! Can chakra heal?" Naruto asked aloud.

"Only highly skilled medical ninja should mess with chakra healing, Naruto. Why do you ask?" Jiraiya responded.

"You're going to think I'm crazy," Naruto muttered.

"Try me," Jiraiya prodded.

"There's a nine-tailed fox in my head who said that his chakra would heal me if I broke the seal imprisoning him," Naruto said seriously.

"Don't touch that seal," Jiraiya said gravely, stopping his work immediately. "Don't even think about it."

"The fox is real? I'm not imagining it?" Naruto exclaimed.

"We'll talk later, Naruto. Shut up about it. Practice sitting still, since you still haven't mastered it," Jiraiya punned.

'Kurama, please give me chakra,' Naruto said to the fox in his head.

"WHY?" the fox asked.

'Because I asked nicely and I've never been anything but kind to you. And I need it right now,' Naruto explained.

"I HATE YOU," the fox said as it released a large wave of chakra. Naruto's body flooded with the red yang chakra of the kyuubi and his already fast natural healing went into overdrive, mending his spine as he sat still. Jiraiya flinched, but didn't move as he stared at Naruto. In less than a minute, Naruto's back was healed. The red chakra had forced Naruto's features into a more bestial look. His eyes were red and feral, his whisker marks deepened, and his fingers looked more like claws than fingers.

Slowly, the feral look receded and Naruto sat up, unscathed. Shikamaru watched quietly, while Kiba had already passed out. "I feel much better now," Naruto commented. "Could I just transfer some of that chakra to heal them so we can go after the old snake-bastard?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "It would poison their chakra networks and it might kill them," he explained. "I already told you that you shouldn't mess with chakra healing unless you are a highly skilled medical-nin. If you aren't hurt, then help me build back-boards to limit the damage to their," he pointed to Shikamaru and Kiba, "spines. With any luck, the hospital will be able to repair the damage."

"I'm awake," Shikamaru mentioned.

"I figured as much," the sannin responded. "You three are going to stay here. Naruto, you'll have to signal for help. As soon as we've got your friends stabilized, I'm going after Orochimaru. Hurry up." Jiraiya turned again to making backboards, but spoke harshly to the genin, "Tell no one about the fox. No one."

—Atop the walls surrounding the Leaf Village—

"They are withdrawing," Kushina noted. "The Sand didn't fully commit to the attack and it looks like neither did the Sound."

"Whatever happened out here, something happened in the arena as well. A sleeping genjutsu made sure that we couldn't react quickly. While we responded to the attacks from outside, the Shukaku was rampaging back in the arena," Kakashi reasoned.

"It seems that the kyuubi took care of it though," Mei added. '_If the Leaf controls the kyuubi then they should have released it earlier._'

"That wasn't the kyuubi. That was a giant toad transformed into the kyuubi. Lord Jiraiya must have handled the arena problem," Kushina said. "Which reminds me, who are you and why are you here?" she glared at Mei.

"I am a member of the Leaf's ANBU and I was helping to keep the village secure," she smiled, handing the mask to Kushina. She turned to Kakashi saying, "My debt is repaid, Kakashi Hatake," before she bowed and left the two Leaf ninjas.

Kushina looked askew at Kakashi saying, "Strange that the Third hasn't arrived yet."


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I own nothing about Naruto.

A/N: I'll state upfront that fuinjutsu (sealing jutsu) is something about which I haven't been able to find much information. Between that and explaining it to Naruto, it might not work in canon the way I describe it here. Any differences I'll chalk up to bad explanations for Naruto to visualize it (unless I'm just so far off the mark that it screws everything). Let me know if I messed it up (with sources) so that I can fix it.

That aside, this chapter begins the next arc and it should be the last that follows canon closely since all of the major players in the ninja world will begin to adapt to the differences between canon and this AU. While I have your attention, I no longer have the time to update daily/semi-daily. My goal is to update a minimum of once per week, with the option of twice. This is not a matter of motivation or not loving the readers; I literally don't have the free time for more than that.

Feedback: give it in the reviews.

**Chapter 11**

A few days passed, during which many were hospitalized as the village took in the aftermath of the combined assault. It certainly could have been worse, but lives were still lost. Chief among those gone was the Third Hokage. A massive funeral was held to honor everyone who had died during the invasion. The Sand sent delegates to explain that they had been duped into participating; their Kazekage had been murdered and impersonated by the criminal, Orochimaru. The Sand condemned the attack in every way and sought peace with the Leaf.

The village mourned the loss of the great Third Hokage, but the village elders and many retired ninja knew that a new Hokage was necessary. Three elders were discussing the options in the Hokage's office with Jiraiya. One was a man covered in bandages and scars. One was an old man with glasses. One was an old woman with hard eyes.

"I'm the worst possible choice," Jiraiya complained, quietly. "There is no way that I would make a good Hokage. I'm completely unfit for the position," he said definitively to the three.

"But you're one of the sannin! You are the great Toad Sage! Of all the ninja that the Leaf Village has produced, you are the strongest still alive. The other nations will respect you and the jonin will certainly acknowledge you," the old man with glasses pleaded.

"The other nations won't respect me and, unless I've got more fans than I thought, the jonin won't agree on me," Jiraiya stated. "I'm just not cut out for it. Think of someone else."

"Well… If you could find Lady Tsunade and convince her to take the job," the old man trailed.

"Is she the only other person that you would accept?" Jiraiya hoped someone else would be acceptable.

"It's you or her," the old man stated firmly.

"I'll find her," Jiraiya sighed, turning to leave for the Uzumaki home. He eyed the three elders before deciding to add, "Don't interfere. It'll be hard enough convincing her without you breathing down her neck to accept."

Jiraiya, as many ninja choose to do, leapt across rooftops to get to the Uzumakis apartment. There was an unearthly calm surrounding the place. Something was certainly going on as Jiraiya approached. The window was closed.

"You aren't ready to take on one of the sannin," Jiraiya heard Kushina pleading. "You need to be stronger. Jiraiya-sensei couldn't catch him and we don't even know where he is." Jiraiya winced hearing his failure before opening the window and letting himself in.

'_Why do we even have doors in this town? The population is at least a quarter ninja or retired ninja,_' Jiraiya wondered as he entered the Uzumaki apartment. "Orochimaru escaped. But your friends didn't bleed to death and Sasuke is probably still alive. Orochimaru wanted him alive, anyway."

"But why?" Naruto asked. "What does he want?"

"He's probably after the sharingan," Jiraiya explained. "I don't know what his plans are, exactly, but they most certainly involve that." Jiraiya frowned. "I know that you don't want to hear this, but we don't have any leads on where he's gone. And there isn't a Hokage right now, so that isn't helping matters."

Jiraiya crossed his arms and looked at Kushina before continuing. "We have to talk about The Fox, Naruto. And I'd like to take you on a little trip. There's someone that I have to find and you just might help me convince this person to return with me."

Kushina frowned and looked at Naruto. "What's this about a fox?" she asked the blonde.

"Pervy-sensei said I wasn't crazy!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Just tell me about the fox!" Kushina screamed.

Naruto paled before babbling, "There's a fox with nine tails that gave me chakra to heal an injury in the forest."

"The seal was supposed to hold," Kushina imagined nightmare scenarios. "Minato performed the sealing flawlessly," she pleaded, breathing heavily. "I swear, he did. Why is the seal breaking?" Kushina was already starting to tear up as she hyperventilated at Jiraiya.

"Calm down. We don't know that the seal is breaking. We don't know that this wasn't part of Minato's plan. It's been leaking chakra into Naruto's system since he sealed the kyuubi," Jiraiya tried to calm Kushina.

Naruto had been confused by his mother's panic, but started to put the pieces together before anyone could explain the situation. "He sealed the kyuubi inside me? The villagers have called me a demon for years and this is why! How could he do that? WHY would he do that?"

Jiraiya turned from Kushina, who was sitting with a paper bag over her mouth, and answered before she could, "He did it because he knew it was necessary. He did it, betting on you. He did it to you because he couldn't ask anyone else to do it. He wouldn't ask anyone else to be the jinchuuriki of the kyuubi. He left you your mother to take care of you and help you, but he sealed the kyuubi inside of you because there was a threat that he knew would be back. And he bet that having the kyuubi would make you strong enough to handle it when it did. He had absolute faith in you."

Naruto sat quietly, thinking. Kushina held herself back from lifting Naruto's shirt to examine the seal on his belly for agonizing minutes. She regained control of herself, the panic subsiding while she thought of Minato. Jiraiya simply waited for Naruto to speak.

"Then I'll just have to figure out how to get stronger," Naruto resolved, his voice iron.

Jiraiya smiled. "Good. We have a lot more training to do. We'll have to be ready to take Orochimaru as soon as we find him. We should consider ourselves at war with him. It isn't as bad as the Great Ninja Wars, but Orochimaru fired the first volley. Naruto needs to grow up, get stronger, and control the kyuubi—"

"Kurama," Naruto interrupted.

"What?" both Jiraiya and Kushina questioned.

"His name is Kurama. He has a name," Naruto said.

"Fine. Control KURAMA in order to defend the village. Orochimaru isn't the threat Minato saw, but he's more immediate," Jiraiya finished.

Kushina sat stunned for several long moments before slowly replying, "You're right." Her demeanor hardened before continuing, "I'm coming with you. There are Uzumaki traditions and secrets that I should have taught Naruto long ago anyway."

'_Dammit. How am I going to peek at naked women with Kushina around? I need to write my books!_' Jiraiya thought. "If that's why you're coming along, that's one thing. But if you're coming along to protect Naruto as his mother, you'll have to stay here. I'm not going to argue this point. If you are anything less than professional, I'm sending you back. It's the only way."

"He's been an adult in the eyes of the village ever since he made genin. I can treat him like a genin," Kushina nodded.

"Good. We're leaving first thing in the morning," Jiraiya responded.

—Uzumaki Apartment, the next morning—

Naruto woke up to his alarm. The apartment was eerily still, just like when Kushina was away on missions. Naruto looked around the apartment to find that his mother was already gone. He packed his gear and made himself some instant ramen for breakfast before heading to the gate to meet Jiraiya and his mom.

Kushina was waiting at the gate wearing black mesh ninja armor under a yellow dress and black shorts. Her forehead protector was tied around her head, under her ponytail. She also wore a standard green flak-vest and had a daisho at her left side along with a pouch on her right leg. Naruto hadn't ever seen her on a mission before and she looked intimidating, but Naruto wouldn't let his mother intimidate him. She stood silently leaning against the outer wall, arms crossed and eyes closed.

"Jiraiya-sensei will be here shortly, Naruto," she said professionally.

"Okay, mom," Naruto responded absently, on the lookout for the Pervy Sage. Kushina smacked him hard enough for him to sail into a nearby tree.

"I know that you meant 'Kushina-sensei,'" she sternly lectured over the shocked genin.

"Kushina is correct, Naruto," Jiraiya chuckled as he walked up to the pair. "We're heading out."

"At least show me something to work on along the way, Pervy-sensei," Naruto grumbled. Kushina and Jiraiya glared at Naruto. "What?" he asked.

Jiraiya sighed and pulled out a bag of water balloons, filling one with water. "Watch, Naruto," he said before popping the balloon with chakra. "Pop the balloon by releasing chakra out of the palm of your hand and spinning it in every direction."

"What's this for?" Naruto asked, taking the balloons.

"It's the first part of a certain jutsu, but it's also a very good exercise for chakra control, which you still need to refine. The stunt in the arena with earth chakra was terrible. You could have done the same thing using one percent of the chakra that you used," Jiraiya explained while walking.

—A teahouse on the other side of the village—

"Looks like your old village took a beating," the shark-skinned man smirked.

The dark-haired man beside the shark-skinned man was silent. Both wore black cloaks with red clouds. Both had forehead protectors with scratches through the village symbols. The shark-skinned man had a large sword wrapped up and strapped to his back.

"Should we just go in or what?" the shark-skinned man pestered through razor-sharp teeth.

"Be quiet," the dark-haired man said quietly. "We will find out much more that way."

The two continued walking until a couple of jonin who were meeting at the teahouse started following them. The jonin had been on a date and were both slightly irritated that they had to end it early. When the dark-haired man turned to face the jonin, his eyes were red pinwheels with three tomoe.

"Itachi Uchiha," Kurenai gasped, trying to snare him in a genjutsu.

Itachi turned the genjutsu back on Kurenai saying, "Genjutsu won't work on me," while disintegrating into a flock of ravens. Kurenai broke the genjutsu and dodged Itachi's shuriken as the shark-skinned man simply watched.

Asuma charged, sheathing the trench-dagger in his hand with blue-white chakra, but the shark-skinned man remained passive. Itachi appeared in front of Asuma's charge, but Asuma leapt away before the clone exploded.

"Tell me: where is Naruto Uzumaki?" Itachi said calmly while defending against both Kurenai and Asuma.

"Nobody's telling you anything!" Kurenai spat.

"That's too bad," Itachi intoned as the tomoe in his eyes morphed into a three-pronged fan. Itachi dodged backward quickly as several kunai flew between him and Kurenai.

Kakashi appeared in between Itachi and his prey, telling the other two jonin, "Don't look into his eyes."

"Kakashi Hatake, you are not an Uchiha. And yet, you have a sharingan. Do you think that you can counter my Tsukuyomi with your borrowed sharingan?" Itachi asked, looking Kakashi in the eye.

Kakashi found himself hung on a cross, surrounded by many clones of Itachi. They pulled out swords and repeatedly stabbed him. "Where is Naruto Uzumaki?" they asked.

"You won't find out from me," Kakashi said as the Itachi clones stabbed him again.

"Then the next seventy-one hours, fifty-nine minutes, and fifty-nine seconds will not be over soon," one Itachi said passively as many others stabbed Kakashi again.

"I'm surprised that you aren't looking for Orochimaru," Kakashi said. They stabbed him again.

"Where is Naruto Uzumaki?" one Itachi asked as the rest paused.

"I don't know," Kakashi replied followed by another round of swords.

"Seventy-one hours, fifty-nine minutes, fifty-eight seconds," a different Itachi said.

"I don't know where Sasuke is either," Kakashi said.

One of the Itachi clones stepped forward asking, "And why would I care about Sasuke Uchiha?" while stabbing Kakashi again.

"Orochimaru took him," Kakashi replied. Every Itachi stopped. It lasted only a moment.

"Tell me everything about Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki," one Itachi said in forceful monotone.

Kakashi collapsed next to Asuma and Kurenai. Itachi turned to the shark-skinned man saying, "We're leaving."

"Why? We haven't even killed anyone yet," the shark-skinned man whined.

"Kisame! We're leaving. Don't fall behind," Itachi said before leaping away. Kisame hesitated for a moment before quickly following.

"Kakashi! What happened?" Kurenai asked the exhausted jonin.

"Tsukuyomi," Kakashi gasped. "Something… very… wrong…" he continued as he collapsed. Kurenai and Asuma looked at each other before quickly carrying Kakashi to the hospital.

—A small town somewhere in the Land of Fire—

"Got it!" Naruto exclaimed, smiling as he popped the last balloon with a splash. It had taken thirty clones the better part of a day to get the trick, but after he'd figured it out, it hadn't taken long to pop every balloon in the bag.

Jiraiya pulled a scroll from his bag and removed a rubber ball from a seal on the scroll. He held it in his hand and popped the ball. "Step two, Naruto," Jiraiya said, handing him the scroll. "I've got to go poking around. Kushina, I trust you can get us a room for the night?" Kushina nodded. "Good. I'll meet you later," he said, leaving the Uzumaki pair for a street with red lights.

"He's probably going to go peeping, Kushina-sensei," Naruto commented, hoping to get the sannin in trouble.

"I wouldn't put it past him, but he'll also be gathering information on this person we're supposed to find," Kushina explained. "Let's get a room. You'll need to make some shadow clones when we get there. There are things I want to start teaching you while you practice with the ball."

Kushina led Naruto to a hotel that she knew Jiraiya would find and arranged a room. Naruto kept working at the rubber ball the whole time, unable to make it do much more than jiggle a little. Kushina noted how Jiraiya was teaching Naruto and realized that he'd made it a simple matter of effort and self-discovery rather than trying to get Naruto to grasp the complexities involved.

'_Jiraiya is trying to teach Naruto more than just the rasengan, but I can't figure out what he's doing,_' Kushina thought as she closed the door to the room. "Shadow clones, Naruto. Three of them," Kushina said sternly.

Naruto created five shadow clones and turned back to the rubber ball. One clone used a transformation to turn into a stalagmite on the floor, while a second grabbed a stone slab, balanced it on top of the stalagmite, and started trying to sit still atop the balancing slab. Three clones approached Kushina who had created two clones of herself.

"Alright. We're going to break this up into three parts. Before we separate, I'll quickly explain the basics. Seals are the specialty of the Uzumaki clan. Seals have two basic parts: form and function. One of you is going to learn about the form of seals," one Kushina raised her hand. "One of you is going to learn about the function of seals," another Kushina raised her hand. "And one of you is going to learn the history of the Uzumaki and general seal information," the last Kushina raised her hand. "After an hour, we're going to dispel the clones and discuss what you've learned."

Each Kushina left with a Naruto and began lecturing on the assigned topics. The Naruto attempting stillness was slightly better off than the Naruto transformed into a training aid, but the two managed to sit still for several long stretches. The Naruto with the rubber ball made the most noise, grunting and screaming at the ball. After an hour of practice, the rubber ball still wouldn't pop, but the three clones learning about seals dispersed, giving Naruto sudden inspiration. The ball popped on his next attempt and he smiled at his success.

—Naruto number three, History—

"I wasn't born in the Leaf village, although my village and the Leaf village had long ties. The whirlpool symbol that the Leaf uses is a reminder of the long friendship between the Leaf and the Whirlpool villages. I was sent to the Leaf during the Second Great Ninja War, so I escaped the fate of the Whirlpool village. While I was at the academy in the Leaf, several other nations allied to destroy the Whirlpool. They succeeded and I was adopted by the Leaf.

"In reality, I was going to become part of the Leaf anyway, but that's not relevant to this lesson. The Whirlpool village housed the greatest seal masters in any of the elemental nations. They knew the secrets of seals and sealing. At its core, sealing is about creating self-sustaining jutsus. Even today, the areas around where Whirlpool used to be have seals that remain active. Decades after the original seal masters created them, there are seals still functioning.

"Some seals create warps in time and space, such as summoning jutsus. Some seals can hold energy until triggered or trap energy until released. Some seals can hold portions of a human soul or gather chakra like a battery. Every seal is different, but the application is limited only by the seal master's skill in defining how and what the seal is supposed to do. Minato Namikaze could place a seal on anything with just a touch. Many Uzumakis could do the same. But that is a highly advanced skill.

"Most seals involve copious planning, which just isn't possible in the heat of battle. Explosive tags, which are very useful, aren't quick or easy to create. Creating one in battle would be like trying to forge a kunai in battle. Having the energy of an explosion condensed down into a paper tag is incredibly useful, just as having a sharp kunai is incredibly useful. Many of the things that we take for granted as ninja are a result of sealing jutsu."

Kushina pulled out a family tree, with many branches missing. "I'm going to tell you about all of the Uzumaki clan that I know about," she began.

—Naruto number four, Sealing Form—

"It's important to note that a good seal is small; concentrated. The bigger the seal, the worse the seal creator was at seal-craft. The seal function will be part of determining the size of the seal, but the smaller the final seal, the more efficient the seal. Flourishes and markings can be a necessary part of the seal, but the most useful seals are the ones that can last the longest and take the most effort to disrupt. Complicated seals are easier to disrupt because they have so much that can go wrong.

"When you look at a summoning contract, what you're really looking at is a seal. Complicated summoning contracts invoke entire clans of summoning animals, while simpler summoning contracts can summon a specific animal. When you look at a storage seal, it's the same thing. Complicated seals invoke a larger number of stored items or space, while simpler seals invoke a smaller number of stored items or space.

"However, condensing the amount of complexity of a seal is part of giving a seal good form. Much like tying a knot, two different seals can accomplish the same thing. One will be a mess of rope wrapped around itself until it holds, while the other will be a simple twist of the rope," Kushina held a rope and showed a square knot compared with a mess of rope tied repeatedly.

"Let me show you the difference between good forms and bad forms," she said as she started showing Naruto many different seals lined up on a scroll.

—Naruto number five, Sealing Function—

"When you think about what you want a seal to do, that's its function. But each seal is a little different. Each seal is composed of a chakra matrix that does something very specific. Sometimes, the chakra matrix can store things as in storage seals and explosive tags. Other times, the chakra matrix does something like in a summoning seal. What you have to realize is that you have to formulate the chakra matrix based on the function of the seal.

"When you disperse and learn about form, you'll understand a little bit better what I mean, but the chakra matrix is the heart of the seal. By adding chakra to the matrix, certain things can happen. Charging a storage seal with chakra will release whatever is stored within the seal, for example. Some seals, however, don't do anything when you disturb the chakra matrix. The seal that keeps the kyuubi inside of you, for example, is a locked seal. Any excess chakra in the seal is absorbed by the seal and distributed through your system.

"That's partly why you have so much chakra. The kyuubi's chakra has been leaking out of the seal for many years, but it doesn't activate the seal because that's not the seal's function. An explosive tag will release its explosive energy when charged with chakra because it's just a storage seal. We're going to go over the three basic seals: summoning, storage, and containment. From these three basic seals, you can derive many, many other seals."

Kushina unrolled a scroll and began describing the basics of the three seals.

—After the clones dispersed—

"Now I just have to pop the rest of these rubber balls," Naruto sighed. '_Concentrating all of my chakra out at one point was a good idea. It made increasing the power much easier. Too bad Jiraiya wants me to practice this so much._'

"What's the deal with sitting still on that slab?" Kushina asked, looking at the transformed clone and the meditating clone.

"I'm not really sure. Pervy-sensei told me to learn how to stay still before he'd help with the next part. I haven't been working on it much since he gave me a bunch of elemental manipulation exercises to work on and now this extra chakra control exercise, but since we don't have the space for twenty or fifty clones, I figured now would be a good time to practice," Naruto explained.

A knock at the door silenced them both. Jiraiya used windows and nobody else should've known where they were. "If you open the door now, I'll just cut off your feet instead of cutting you in half," a menacing voice grated from the other side of the door.


	12. Chapter 12

Obvious Disclaimer: I own nothing about Naruto.

A/N: I know I was only going to write one or two a week, but… Surprise! I found some extra time today. Enjoy.

Reviews are for telling me what you like and what you don't.

**Chapter 12**

Kushina crashed through the wall into Kisame. '_This isn't a blonde genin,_' Kisame thought. Itachi stepped out of the way as Kushina drew a katana from her side, slashing at the still reeling shark-skinned man. Kisame jumped back as Kushina drew the wakizashi.

"Niten: Deadly Whirlpool" Kushina spun into Kisame, leaving thousands of slashes on everything in her path, even the massive scaled sword Kisame had drawn. The sword tried to snake around Kushina's blades, but she moved too quickly for it to find purchase, kicking Kisame in the chest as she bent backward into a quick flip away from the legendary living blade.

Kushina struck at the enormous sword, batting it aside with both of hers in rapid succession. "Ninpo: Chakra Containment Seal" She head-butted Kisame in the chest and the seal appeared on the spot her forehead had struck.

"You think you can stop me with a head-butt?" Kisame scoffed, preparing the great blade, samehada, to attack the impudent kunoichi. He raised his arms, but they wouldn't respond with the strength or speed they should have. "What did you do?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

Kushina used a body-flicker to move down the hall, behind Kisame. "Niten: Vital Strike" Her blades ripped into Kisame's lungs and heart, causing the shark-skinned man to fall to his knees, blades erupting from his chest. "I just killed you," she intoned as she scissored her blades through Kisame, leaving his body in two pieces and a few chunks. The body changed to resemble a normal person as the pieces thumped to the floor in a pool of blood.

"That's a neat trick," Kushina noted. "Who gave the order, Itachi?"

Itachi stared at the red-haired woman. '_I'd always heard rumors that she was called Red Death instead of Red-Hot Habanero outside the Leaf, but killing Kisame like that…_' Itachi thought, analyzing the situation. '_If I wait too long, Jiraiya will return. I don't have enough chakra to beat her, let alone the two of them, but there is no reason to confirm her suspicions._' He replied, "What order?"

"I've known you since you were born, Itachi. You didn't kill your clan because you snapped. It wasn't a whim. The Third might have been in on it, but he didn't give the order. The question, Itachi, is who gave the order?" Kushina asked emphatically.

Naruto quietly listened, knowing that he couldn't contribute and that he was learning something important.

"The Third gave the order based on my information and Danzo's insistence," Itachi said carefully.

Kushina scowled at the Uchiha. "Do you still send reports?" she asked.

"Yes," Itachi answered calmly. "You should kill this body soon. And don't speak of this again," he instructed, closing his eyes. Kushina decapitated the shape-shifted Itachi revealing another sacrificial victim just as Jiraiya arrived.

"You could've made less of a mess, you know," Jiraiya deadpanned in monotone, looking at the two dead bodies, spattered blood, broken door, and cuts along the corridor. Naruto sauntered out with a rubber ball, paling at the bloodbath before turning to Jiraiya.

"I got the trick of the rubber ball," Naruto said, popping the last rubber ball with one hand for the sannin. "We're changing hotels, aren't we?" he asked redundantly, his gear already packed.

—One town over from Tanzaku, two days later—

"Kushina, Naruto, pack it up. We've got a lead," Jiraiya called at the Uzumaki pair. Kushina had begun teaching Naruto how to blend body-flicker and partial body-flicker with advanced taijutsu while some shadow-clones worked on creating seals and others practiced elemental manipulations. One Naruto worked on perfecting the third part of the rasengan.

Upon hearing Jiraiya, Naruto dispelled all of his clones, immediately getting the experiences of many different training drills. "Pervy-sensei, what comes after the third part of the chakra control training?" he asked, picking up his pack.

"I'll tell you after you get the third step down," Jiraiya said thinking, '_The fourth step is developing the jutsu to use an element. But you'll have to do that for yourself._'

'_What are you thinking, Jiraiya? That's as far as Minato got with the rasengan. There is no next step unless you… Oh! You're teaching him how to experiment with chakra shape and chakra nature,_' Kushina thought as she listened to the conversation. "I hadn't bothered asking before, but since we're getting closer, who is it we're looking for?"

Jiraiya pulled a photograph out of his breast pocket, showing it to Kushina and Naruto, putting a finger to his lips as he looked at Kushina. "We're looking for some blonde woman? Are we walking all over Fire Country so that you can get a date, Pervy-sensei?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya laughed, "No, no, no. The village has an important message for her."

Naruto thought about it as the trio walked down the road. '_What could it be? The Third just died so we could be letting her know. But that doesn't make sense. The only reason we would go to this much trouble would be if she's supposed to be the next Hokage. They wouldn't send one of the sannin to notify any errant kin. There were three sannin: Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and the medic-lady. Orochimaru tried to destroy the village, which eliminates him as a Hokage candidate. One of the jonin might be the next Hokage, but there are still two viable sannin. If Jiraiya was going to be the next Hokage, he'd be taking the hat already, so he probably isn't the Hokage. If that woman is the medic sannin, then we're here so that Jiraiya can tell her she's the next Hokage._' Naruto asked, "Is that a picture of the other sannin?"

Jiraiya kept walking without answering, which caused Naruto to think further. '_He didn't answer. Either I'm right or he's ignoring me._' Naruto let out a heavy sigh filled with despair, but perked up immediately. "Pervy-sensei, let's make a bet. If I guess correctly about the woman in the picture, you have to teach me something that you've never taught any other student. If I'm wrong, I'll stop calling you 'Pervy-sensei' for at least a month," Naruto smiled.

Kushina frowned. '_Gambling is one of the three vices. If I admonish him, I won't be treating him like a genin. But if I don't, he might get used to it. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit._'

"You think you've figured it out, eh? I don't think I'll accept your wager. You might be right, but I'd hate for you to think that I cared that much about what you call me," Jiraiya responded with a stiff upper lip. '_I want him to stop calling me that so badly, but if I accept his bet, I'll be confirming his suspicions and setting a bad precedent._'

The three continued walking while Naruto created a shadow clone to practice containing a chakra ball in his hand. Ever since Jiraiya had commented that he could use body flicker on only part of his body, he'd been experimenting with shadow clones. He'd been thinking about what happened while he focused his mind inward to talk with Kurama.

The three walked as Naruto attempted to create a different kind of shadow clone. They were just an hour outside Tanzaku Town when Naruto finally managed to do what he wanted. He stood next to his clone in the strange underground sewer with the massive gate.

'It worked,' he commented as the clone nodded. 'Good.'

"Naruto! Stop spacing out! Catch up!" Kushina shouted.

"Yes! Coming!" Naruto replied.

'Well that was different,' the clone commented.

"TELL ME ABOUT IT, CLONE," Kurama scoffed.

'Would you like some company?' the clone asked.

"GO AWAY," Kurama growled.

'You don't have to be alone,' the clone started.

"YOU AREN'T A BIJUU. YOU AREN'T EVEN THE STUPID MEAT PRISON," Kurama spat. "YOU'RE A PITIFUL **THING** SENT HERE TO ANNOY ME."

'That's not how it works,' the clone tried again.

"REMOVE THE SEAL AND PROVE IT THEN," Kurama goaded.

'That's not why I'm here. How about a nice game? Do you know Go?" the clone asked.

"NO," Kurama grumbled. "STOP TRYING TO DISTRACT ME."

'Go is a pretty simple game. There is a board with a bunch of lines. Each intersection is a place where one player can place a token,' the clone set a board close to the gate. 'There are two players; one uses black tokens while the other uses white tokens. Each player places a token on an intersection every turn.' The clone placed a white token on one intersection. 'Both players place tokens in an attempt to surround or control larger sections of territory on the board. A group of tokens connected by lines are one large stone. Completely surrounding opposing sections of tokens means that those tokens are captured. The only other rule is that nobody is allowed to place a stone that would result in repetition. The game is over when both players decide that there are no more profitable moves or one player is overwhelmed.' The clone looked up at the kyuubi, who was curled into a ball with his nose facing out. 'I placed the first token, so it's now your turn. You have the black tokens.' The clone sat, waiting patiently for several long minutes. Those stillness exercises were actually paying off.

The kyuubi snaked one of its nine tails between the bars and placed a black token. 'Great! This is gonna be fun!' the clone exclaimed, placing another white token.

Several games passed as the four in the outside world walked closer to Tanzaku Town.

"I'M TIRED," the fox yawned, lying.

'Okay,' the clone responded. 'Would you like to play again sometime?'

"I GUESS," the fox muttered before turning around and closing his eyes.

Naruto smiled as the memories of playing Go for the last hour flooded him. His other clone held a balloon completely still in its hands. "YES!" the clone shouted. "WE'VE GOT IT!"

The whole group stopped, looking at Naruto. The clone dispelled and Naruto held his hand out, gathering chakra into a spinning ball that rapidly became denser and faster as his other hand contained the ball. He took the jutsu to a tree on the side of the road and slowly drove it into the tree, destroying the bark and wood as it obliterated a hole into the side of the tree and exploded out the other side.

Naruto smiled, "That's badass."

Jiraiya recovered from the shock at the boy performing the full rasengan less than a week after he'd started learning it. '_The chakra control exercises are definitely paying off,_' he thought. "Great job! Now that you can perform the jutsu, I want you to practice it until you can do one in either hand," Jiraiya lectured.

"But I can already do the jutsu!" Naruto whined.

"Which is impressive and useful, but you still need to refine your chakra control and I can't think of a better way to do that than to practice the jutsu. Your control will be at an acceptable level when you can make a rasengan on each finger while walking on water with a leaf stuck to your forehead," Jiraiya made up the most ridiculous chakra control exercise that he could think of. '_Most jonin would be hard-pressed to pull off water walking, the leaf exercise, and one rasengan simultaneously. Shoot for the moon, kid._'

Kushina thought, '_What are you doing, Jiraiya! He's going to stay out practicing until he can actually do that! Have you gone insane? He can create hundreds of shadow clones. He doesn't have to prioritize training. He'll just do everything until he's exhausted._'

—Orochimaru's Lair—

"Sasuke, you're awake, I see," Kabuto taunted. "That's good. Lord Orochimaru will want to speak with you when he returns."

Sasuke looked at the grey-haired ninja through bleary eyes. "What… hap'ned?" he mumbled.

"Well, Lord Orochimaru invaded the Leaf Village. Naturally, he won. There were many casualties on both sides, but that was the point. Lord Orochimaru wanted to hurt the Leaf and weed out the weaklings in one fell swoop. Lord Orochimaru is truly a great man, as you'll soon find out," Kabuto explained.

"Whatever," Sasuke tried to say as he passed out.

—Tanzaku Town—

"Naruto, you are going to help me find this woman," Jiraiya explained, handing Naruto the old photograph. "You can make hundreds of clones. Send them throughout the town until you find her or find where she's gone."

Naruto nodded, sending clones speedily across the town. Some asked innkeepers, others asked merchants, others looked up at the massive castle atop the hill as they rushed through the streets. Jiraiya and Kushina started going into the bars and casinos.

One Naruto spotted the woman sitting at a slot machine. She had long, blonde hair and wore a green jacket. She looked like she was thirty, at the oldest. There was a dark-haired woman standing behind her as she pulled the lever. Naruto slid in behind her as the dark-haired woman started cheering for sevens.

Naruto startled both by saying, "I'm pretty lucky. I bet you'll win," as the second seven came in line. Both women looked at the audacious boy as the third seven slid into line. "See?" He pointed to the last seven as money poured out of the slot machine.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes at the boy. "Come on, Shizune. We're leaving," the sannin said, keeping her eyes glued to the strange ninja-boy in orange.

"Aw, crap," Naruto cursed. "Is there any way I could convince you to hang around for a little while? I'm guessing that I wasn't supposed to talk to you."

"Oh, yeah? That's probably a good idea. Buzz off, brat," Tsunade spat angrily as she blithely brushed past Naruto onto the street, leaving Shizune to collect the winnings.

"Sure thing, Old Lady," he spat back, dispelling himself.

Tsunade stared at the spot the clone had stood only moments before. "Hurry up, Shizune. We're leaving. Now," she called.

Naruto turned to Jiraiya and Kushina exclaiming, "Got her! Hurry up, she's leaving!" as he lead them quickly through the streets. The trio caught Tsunade and Shizune on their way to the castle.

"See? I told you I'd found her," Naruto trumpeted as they jumped in front of the two kunoichi.

"What's this, Jiraiya? Are you taking in strays again?" Tsunade scoffed at the trio.

Jiraiya laughed. "You mock my latest apprentice? But he's downright inspirational!"

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "What do you want?" she said impatiently.

"Sarutobi-sensei is dead," Jiraiya said, trying to gauge the woman's response before continuing. "The thing is the council wants a Hokage as soon as possible. And they want you."

"Pfft. What kind of IDIOT would want to be Hokage?" Tsunade asked. "They don't just die, they all die badly."

Kushina gripped the hilt of her katana, her knuckles turning white as Naruto screamed, "I would, you old bat! If the stupid Third could have waited a few years, we wouldn't even be here cause I'd be taking the job!"

Tsunade turned to Naruto. "You think you know what it means to be Hokage?" Her fists were already balled up. "It's a thankless job that only gets you killed. Only an idiot would want it."

"Then I guess I'm an idiot. And so were the four Hokages. Pervy-sensei, she's not interested. Let's just find someone else," Naruto exclaimed, exasperated.

"Naruto! Shut up!" Kushina exclaimed, turning to Tsunade and Shizune. "The village needs you, Lady Tsunade. I know, more than most, what being Hokage means and I'm asking you. Please, return to the village. Be the Fifth Hokage."

Tsunade looked at the sadness in Kushina's eyes when she spoke of the Hokage. "What could you know?" Tsunade asked.

"I fought in the Third Great Ninja War. I know what it's like to lose friends. My village was destroyed in the Second Great Ninja War. I know what it's like to lose family. My husband died in my arms and I thought I would die with him, but I woke up. I know what it's like to lose someone irreplaceable and be forced to keep going anyway," Kushina glanced softly at Naruto. "And I know what it's like to want to do anything to protect those most precious." She turned back to Tsunade, her eyes fierce once more. "But they aren't offering me the hat. They want you. So I'll do whatever it takes to convince you."

Tsunade looked hard at Kushina. '_Is she… a kindred spirit?_' She glanced down at Naruto, evaluating him for the first time. '_Is he related to the Fourth?_' "I'm not going to be able to ditch you, am I?" she sighed. Jiraiya and Kushina shook their heads, while Naruto just stared at her. "Buy me drinks tonight. We can discuss it like adults, at least. Shizune and I are going to take a tour of this historic landmark, if you don't mind," she said, walking up to the castle.

Jiraiya and Kushina left, dragging Naruto behind them. Shizune looked at Tsunade with concern. "This would be a very good thing for us, Lady Tsunade. I think you should consider it." The two looked around the castle for a while in silence before Tsunade stopped, sensing something amiss.

"Hello, Princess," a grating voice hissed. Orochimaru stood, his wounded arm bandaged. "Enjoying the sights?"

"Well isn't today just filled with surprises," Tsunade quipped, sizing up the snake-sannin and noticing the bandaged arm. "What do YOU want? Let me guess. You've hurt your arm and want me to heal it."

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble," Orochimaru replied with a shrug.

"And how did you injure it so badly in the first place?" she asked, noting the timing.

"I'll be honest: I killed Sarutobi-sensei," Orochimaru said, expecting more emotional response than he got.

"Hmph. Did you think that would make me more likely to help you?" she retorted.

"It's too bad about your poor brother, you know. He died badly," Orochimaru prodded at familiar weaknesses.

Tsunade smashed one of the trench walls behind her. "Don't," she started.

'_Ah. Gotcha,_' Orochimaru thought. "And your lover. You couldn't save him either," he twisted.

"Leave or I'll kill you," Tsunade trembled.

"Tsk, tsk, Princess. I was merely pointing out," he drawled.

"You have until I count to five," she threatened. "One."

"That you…"

"Two."

"Probably wouldn't…"

"Three."

"Mind if…"

"Four."

"I resurrected them for you," Orochimaru finished, pausing for Tsunade's response.

"You're lying," she said, unsure.

"If I have both hands, I can resurrect them with a certain jutsu," Orochimaru tempted.

Tsunade thought for long moments. "If I heal your arm, what will you do?"

"I'll destroy the Leaf after I bring back your loved ones, of course."

Shizune interrupted Tsunade's thoughts. "No. Lady Tsunade, snap out of it."

"Let me think about it," Tsunade said to Orochimaru.

"You have one week," the snake sannin replied, leaping away.

—That night, at the bar—

Kushina sat alone in a booth with Tsunade. The others were enjoying food in another booth. Both women had enough to be considered drunk.

"How do you do it?" Tsunade asked.

"What do you mean?" Kushina replied.

"How do you just go on? I can't anymore. Jiraiya must have told you about my problem," Tsunade explained.

"The hemophobia? Yeah, he mentioned it," Kushina replied, taking another drink.

"Everyone you loved is dead. How do you deal with it?" Tsunade asked, finishing another bottle of sake.

"I found someone else that I could care about. Oh, I cried myself to sleep for years. It still hurts that they're gone. Especially him," Kushina paused, her eyes filled with sadness. "But I'm not. And they're not," she nodded to Jiraiya and Naruto. "And there are others who are still here."

"Is it really that simple?" Tsunade droned. "You've found someone to care about and now you're fine?"

Kushina let out a half-hearted laugh. "I'll never be fine, Lady Tsunade. A part of me is gone and I'll never get it back. It would be more accurate to say that I'm functional," Kushina explained, smiling into her fifth empty sake bottle as her attention drifted. "He reminds me … husband sometimes. More and more," Kushina muttered.

"The boy? He's… yours?" Tsunade asked.

"Hm? Naruto? He's mine," Kushina mumbled. "Takes after his father though. Got his looks," she smiled, setting her head down on the table, her eyes already half-closed. '_Just rest my eyes for a second,_' she thought as unconsciousness swallowed her.

"NARUTO!" Tsunade drunkenly screamed. "Get your orange ass over here! And bring pork!"

Naruto put some extra pork on a plate, thinking that he was bringing some for his mother, and slid over to Tsunade's table. "What did you do to Kushina-sensei, grandma?" he asked when he saw Kushina passed out.

"I didn't do a damn thing," Tsunade roared as she grabbed the plate, stuffing a dumpling into her mouth. "Tell me— why do you care who the next Hokage is?" she asked while chewing.

"The Hokage is the most respected ninja in the village. It means that everyone in the village accepts you and that you would protect them with your life," Naruto explained. "It's my dream to one day be Hokage, just like—" he stopped.

"Just like what?" Tsunade prodded.

"Just like all of the previous Hokage," Naruto saved.

"Jiraiya thinks you could be something, but his judgment isn't exactly trustworthy," Tsunade smirked. "But this lady," she pointed to Kushina. "She's betting everything on you. But she's biased, isn't she?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes. '_Just what is this old bat getting at?_'

"You talk big, but you're young. What makes you think you won't change? Maybe after some people die on you," she prodded.

"I don't know. But I'll never give up. I won't let anything stop me. I will protect everyone precious to me with everything I have. I'll be the Hokage someday, even if it takes me a hundred years. I'll never give up," Naruto spoke with resolve and hope that stirred memories in Tsunade that she would have rather forgotten.

—Orochimaru's Lair—

"I can show you the path to true power," Orochimaru hissed to Sasuke.

Sasuke groaned, the curse-mark still burning on his neck. It ate his dreams, leaving only nightmares. Itachi returned, killing Naruto and Kushina as he watched. Sakura held him down and gutted him. Naruto turned into the kyuubi and ate him. Kakashi plucked out his right eye to make a set for himself. His mother cried for him to help her as Itachi cut her down. Kushina cried for him to help her as Itachi cut her down. The nightmares wouldn't leave him alone for days until he couldn't tell reality from nightmare. Orochimaru would always be there, telling him to surrender, but he didn't give in.

"Make sure he's ready, just in case Tsunade won't fix my arm," Orochimaru commanded Kabuto.

As his torment crescendoed and he contemplated giving in to the whispers, Sasuke activated his sharingan, but it wasn't enough. '_How did Itachi activate the Mangekyo Sharingan?_' he lamented as more fever dreams came to him. He wept then, unable to contain the pain any longer.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I own nothing about Naruto.

A/N: Some might argue that the story is still rated T, but I wanted to be absolutely certain that I wasn't violating any rules, so I went ahead and upgraded it to M. I suppose I could have removed two paragraphs and it would remain rated T, but those two paragraphs were just too much fun and I think that they humanize both characters a little more than without them.

If you think that I should throttle it back, leave it in the reviews. Feedback, give it.

**Chapter 13**

"Uuuuhhnnn…" Tsunade moaned, blinking the midday sun out of her eyes. It was the fifth day since she'd met Kushina, Naruto, and Jiraiya in Tanzaku Town. It was the fifth day since Orochimaru had offered to bring her precious people back from the grave. Tsunade and Kushina drank and talked for many hours every night, but Tsunade usually woke with just a hangover. This morning, however, she was sticky, a little dirty, naked under the sheets, and still mildly satisfied. And the man lying next to her was breathing heavily, obviously still asleep.

'_Oh, Kami… Please don't be real…_' the sannin thought as she remembered the previous night. 'No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no_,_' she thought, rolling over to look at Jiraiya's heavily muscled, naked chest. 'Of course, _it's Jiraiya. Dammit! Dammit, dammit, dammit! No wonder I feel so dirty._' Jiraiya rolled over, opening his eyes. "Not a word, Pervert. And if this makes it into one of your books, I will kill you and let Orochimaru bring you back just so I can kill you again. This. Never. Happened," she spoke coldly and with so much venom that Jiraiya knew she meant it, but he couldn't help smirking. "Close your eyes. I need to get dressed…"

—The hot spring in Tanzaku Town—

"It feels good, doesn't it?" Kushina asked innocently.

Tsunade fought back the creeping panic. "Very relaxing," she said, hoping Kushina meant the baths.

Shizune looked at Tsunade asking, "What happened last night? We lost you after the ramen stand and it looks like you just woke up. Are you okay?"

"Nothing happened," Tsunade declared. "Nothing! Do you understand me?" she roared.

"Of course," Kushina replied as Shizune yelped, "Nothing! Got it!" Both were adults and could see the obvious signs of a walk-of-shame. Neither wanted to know anything about it.

"Lady Tsunade, we really have to get back to the village soon. If you aren't going to be the Fifth Hokage, we'll need to gather the jonin to nominate someone else," Kushina calmly changed the subject.

"No," Tsunade stated calmly. "I am the Fifth Hokage. We'll leave in two days, after we take care of Orochimaru. I realize that I've been hiding like a coward. It's long past time I stopped hiding," she resolved, surprising Shizune more than a little. Hitting rock bottom had made Tsunade realize how foolish she had been. '_Shagging Jiraiya… Not that he wasn't surprisingly good, but still… Jiraiya… The man has a peeping habit and writes porn._' Tsunade mentally shivered, disgusted with herself. She turned to Kushina, "Do you have any extra gear? We only have clothes, some medical supplies, and our recent winnings. It'll take more than that to be properly prepared to fight Orochimaru."

"Shizune looks like she's almost my size. She can wear my spare armor. I only have the one spare and your, um, measurements are too different," Kushina explained, suddenly uncomfortable trying to explain that the other woman's breasts were just too big for the armor she had.

"That's fine. I won't need armor," Tsunade calmly replied. "I have two days to supercharge my seal," she pointed to the diamond on her forehead.

"You plan on using that seal?" Shizune gasped. '_What happened last night? She hasn't been like this since before my uncle died…_'

"We aren't going for a picnic, Shizune. We'll be fighting my old teammate. I expect him to pull out all the stops," the sannin lectured. "I'll probably have to summon Katsuyu—"

"How?" Shizune interrupted. "You haven't been able to—"

Tsunade bit her thumb, drawing blood and swiping it on her hand as she made the seals and summoned a tiny slug. "As I was saying, Jiraiya will probably have to summon Gamabunta—"

"Naruto can handle that," Kushina interrupted before submerging in the spring water to wash away her previous discomfort.

Tsunade waited expectantly as the redhead wiped water away from her eyes. "He has the control and level of chakra required?"

"For that, yes. He's still practicing control, but his chakra level is higher than Jiraiya's," Kushina said calmly. "He's mastered molding wind natured chakra and is around chunin-skill at molding lightning and earth natured chakra. He's only genin-level with fire nature and academy level with water nature. My guess is that Jiraiya is waiting until he's mastered molding chakra with all five elements before he starts teaching him real jutsus. I've been waiting until after his growth spurt to teach him advanced taijutsu or kenjutsu, but he still knows a few advanced taijutsu principles. If you teach him how to use your super-strength technique, he'll be skilled enough to fight with us."

Tsunade was shocked. She compared that training regimen with the normal training plan for ninja and realized that Naruto would seem a little weak for a while, but, as soon as the boy started learning jutsus and any advanced techniques, he would be able to improvise better than most ninjas could execute practiced moves and katas.

"And Jiraiya taught him the rasengan," Kushina added.

"WHAT?" Tsunade exclaimed.

—Outside of Tanzaku—

"What are you surprised about? I'm going to train with you," Jiraiya happily explained a small smile plastered on his face.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "You haven't stuck around to oversee me since you taught me to study in the library," he skeptically questioned.

"What can I say? I'm in a great mood and I want to work out some kinks in a jutsu for you," Jiraiya beamed. Something was definitely up with the Pervy-sannin.

Naruto brightened at the idea of a new jutsu, just for him. "What are you waiting for? Get to work, Pervy-sensei!" the blonde boy shouted, turning to his own practice with a single rasengan forming in his right hand.

'_Left lung, wind chakra. Right lung, fire chakra. Combine a tornado with the fireball jutsu. You can do this, Jiraiya,_' he thought, slowly working hand signs for both jutsus. '_Just keep trying. It took four decades, but you got Tsunade into bed. This is much less dangerous than that,_' he thought as the fire burst in his face.

"Do you have a death-wish, dumbass?" Tsunade stormed over to Jiraiya, her hair still wet from the springs. She smacked the lightly charred Toad Sage before turning to Naruto, demanding, "Show me the rasengan."

Startled, Naruto held one hand out, gathering the dense chakra into a swirling vortex. The sannin seemed far too angry to be trifled with and Naruto's practice made the first two steps of the rasengan second nature to him. Without thinking, he'd applied the third step without his other hand and was holding a complete rasengan in one hand. "ONE-HANDED!" he cheered. "FINALLY!"

"Stop cheering and show me on that tree," she pointed, still serious. Naruto bounced to the tree and shoved the rasengan into it, biting a hole into the side of the tree before he released it and the tree exploded out. Tsunade looked around, realizing that Naruto had several dozen clones practicing many different things. "Are those shadow clones?" Naruto nodded. Tsunade nervously laughed before ripping the stump up and throwing it into the forest. Her laughter turned from nervous to an evil cackle as she threw the stump.

"Tsunade?" Jiraiya sheepishly asked.

"You magnificent bastard! I could kill you, you crazy pervert!" she pointed at a confused Jiraiya, with more than a hint of madness in her eyes. "Go away, you old goat, while I see what your excellent student can pick up in the next two days!"

—Orochimaru's Lair—

"Jiraiya is in Tanzaku. And that tomato-headed bitch is there too. Kabuto, assemble the strongest experiments. We need to be prepared to kill all of them to ensure Tsunade's cooperation," Orochimaru ordered.

"And Sasuke?" Kabuto nodded to the boy in restraints.

"Leave him. His mind will be broken soon enough," the snake sannin hissed.

Sasuke whimpered as the seal used his mind to show him his friends murdered and violated repeatedly at the hands of every horrible monster he had imagined as a child. They wouldn't die quickly or quietly. Sasuke threw up, crying and finally passed out, but the visions continued in his dreams.

—The Castle atop Tanzaku Town—

"Hello, Princess," Orochimaru hissed.

"Finally," Tsunade replied. "You can take your offer and shove it," she spat.

"Are you SURE that you don't want to see your lover again? Or your brother?" Orochimaru tried tempting. Kushina body-flickered from a nearby tree behind Orochimaru.

"'No' means 'no,' monster," Kushina intoned, drawing her katana.

"'No' means she still needs convincing," Orochimaru hissed as he drew his own blood. "Kill all but Tsunade."

Kabuto shot out of another tree, his hands charged with medical chakra, landing between Kushina and Orochimaru. "The Hot-Blooded Habanero. Killing you is going to be fun," the grey-haired boy smirked, drawing a kunai with his off hand.

Kushina drew her wakizashi saying, "We'll see if you still think so after we've fought," as her eyes blazed with hate at the boy who'd crippled three genin, including her son.

A monstrous hulk burst through one of the walls, spraying chunks of stone and mortar in all directions. It screamed, "KILL!" as it charged at Tsunade. But an orange flash from the castle intercepted the hulking brute before it came close.

Naruto smirked as he charged his forearms with chakra to block the beast's wild swings. '_I'm not good enough to hit things as hard as Tsunade-sensei, but at least I can take one of her hits,_' he thought as the beast knocked him back. '_Or this thing's..._' "Is that the best you've got?" he taunted before leading it away from Tsunade and into the forest around the hill.

Kabuto watched as Jugo rampaged away from the fight, following the orange brat. He wasn't having any luck landing a hit anywhere on the red-haired kunoichi and had nearly lost a hand more than once in the brief moments he'd been engaged in battle. "Switch!" he called at the three of the Sound Four lying in wait.

Kushina saw a large teen with orange eyes, red skin, and a long mane of golden hair down his back take position in front of her, allowing Kabuto to move to Orochimaru's side. The teen grabbed her long blade in his stone hand and snapped it, sending shards of steel flying as Kushina leapt back.

Orochimaru watched as Tsunade seemed unfazed by his blood and Jiraiya charged up wearing a frog on either shoulder. "This time, Orochimaru, you won't escape." Jiraiya leapt toward Orochimaru, crashing into the snake-nin with the force of a truck.

"Sage mode, eh?" the snake chuckled as he stood, his own sage mode active. "Let's find out who's better at it," he finished, flying at the white-haired sage.

Kabuto charged his hands with medical chakra as he attacked Tsunade. "I don't have time to play with you. Yin Seal Release. Mitotic Regeneration." The diamond seal on Tsunade's forehead morphed into a strange pattern tracking over her body and then fading from sight as Kabuto charged. Kabuto struck the woman repeatedly without even having to go through a defense. Rather than crippling her as he expected, she simply smiled down at the medic-nin while she kicked him square in the chest, her foot making a thick crunch as it connected with breastbone. Kabuto flew several dozen yards into the forest, his chest already collapsed. "Restore." The diamond seal reformed on her forehead as she assessed the battlefield.

Kushina stood back to back with Shizune fighting the red-skinned teen as well as a monster with three eyes and six arms and a demon girl playing a flute that shot deadly sonic blasts at the two. Kushina flashed through several dozen hand-signs as Shizune held back the two monsters. "Sealing Art: Evil Consuming Method." Kushina leapt from behind Shizune, surprising the six-armed creature by springing over it with one hand on the creature's shoulder. A seal quickly appeared under her hand, on the creature's neck, and retracted inwards, disappearing before anyone could notice.

"Ninpo: Poison cloud." Shizune breathed a purple plume at the red-skinned monster that coughed but seemed otherwise unaffected. The demon girl blasted the smoke cloud with her flute, causing the smoke to shudder and fall to the ground as if weighted. The six-armed monster cried out as the third eye closed and Kushina kicked its back, sending it flying.

A gout of toad oil ignited by one of the frogs on Jiraiya's shoulders sprayed into Orochimaru as the snake shed his body, letting it turn into a charred husk in front of him. Orochimaru watched as the heaven seal on his six-armed servant ate itself and the boy became as useful as the simple chunin he was without the seal against the S-ranked kunoichi he faced.

Orochimaru fled into the forest as Tsunade reached out to grab him, but she missed his ankle by a hair's breadth. Tsunade had flown at a right angle to Orochimaru's path, but Jiraiya ran after the snake-nin at top speed. Tsunade looked back to Kushina and Shizune as Kushina threw her wakizashi through the demon-girl's head, pinning her twitching corpse to the stone rubble that remained of the wall.

Naruto ran out of the forest, looking frantically around. "Where's Pervy-sensei and Orochimaru?" he asked as Kushina sealed the final Sound-nin's heaven seal and Shizune shot more senbon into the strange teenaged boy.

"Jiraiya is chasing Orochimaru," she pointed to the woods. "How did your fight go?" Tsunade asked.

"The freak kept beating on me until a shadow clone shoved a rasengan into its back. That pissed it off even more since I think that hurt it and it started uprooting trees to swing at me. It tried crushing me in a pile of trees after its swings dispelled all of my clones and it was gone before I could work myself loose," Naruto explained. They all heard Jiraiya's frustrated howls in the distance, which could only mean that he'd lost Orochimaru. "At least the castle is still standing, so that's—"

The castle collapsed in on itself just as Naruto was smiling and pointing to it. "—something."

—Orochimaru's Lair—

Sasuke watched, unable to control himself, as he murdered everyone. Kakashi had proven the most difficult, requiring thousands of paper bombs all over the training grounds. Once Kakashi was dead, he moved through the streets, killing any genin he knew. Lee burnt under a fire jutsu. Neji caught poison gas from a soda can. He bug-bombed Shino's house. He beat Shikamaru to death. He made Sakura stab Ino to death then he gutted her like a fish. He used ninja wire and paper bombs to booby trap the Uzumaki apartment and watched helplessly as Kushina and Naruto bled to death on the kitchen floor.

When he looked into the mirror this time, he didn't see Itachi as he had on previous nightmares. This time, when he looked into the mirror, he saw his own face looking back at him with a satisfied grin.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" his scream echoed through the empty underground complex. He looked up from the floor, his sharingan twisted into strange loops and curves, no longer even resembling a wheel. He struggled against his ropes as the whispers of the snake faded from his mind, finally slipping one hand out. With one hand free, untying the rest of the ropes was unconscious.

Sasuke stumbled through the complex, looking for a way out. He could barely think straight, but he was not about to stay in that dank place any longer. He stumbled out into a wilderness and moved on autopilot through the trees.

He didn't know where he was going, but he knew that he had to go away. He travelled for a long time, losing track of day and night, hunger and thirst. For all he knew, it could have been an hour or a week. He looked up to see Itachi wearing a strange black cloak with red clouds. None of his hallucinations had featured that detail, but the hallucinations had gotten progressively weirder and more disturbing as time had passed.

—Hokage Tower, Village Hidden in the Leaves—

"How am I supposed to get up to speed quickly?" Tsunade asked to no one in particular. An ANBU operative in a dog mask appeared in the Hokage's office kneeling in front of the woman. She looked up at the sudden change in furniture. "What?" she challenged the ANBU operative.

"If I might make a suggestion, Lady Hokage: I once solved a similar problem regarding catching up on a lot of reading at once and the solution that I used was shadow clones," dog suggested. Ever since Naruto, Kushina, and Jiraiya had returned with Tsunade, he'd been on this terrible guard duty.

"Shadow clones, eh? Sounds like a pretty lazy solution to the problem," Tsunade commented.

"Laziness is just a fool's word for efficiency, Lady Hokage. There is nothing wrong with wanting to do more than work. Ask the Nara clan. The person whose problem that solved has enough chakra to make a jonin blush, so it worked out well for that person," dog commented.

Tsunade chuckled. "Don't tell me. Blonde boy, hyperactive, loves ramen?"

"You've met Naruto already then?" dog replied in monotone.

Tsunade nodded. "That kid and his mom convinced me to take this job. I even gave him that unlucky necklace of mine." Tsunade pondered for a moment. "Dog, what is your current mission?"

"Temporary assignment to Hokage security, Lady Fifth," dog said.

"Remove the mask. Your new assignment is office efficiency so that I can stay ahead of the paperwork and get this place in order," Tsunade commented.

Kakashi removed the ANBU mask and uniform only to have his cloth mask and forehead protector covering most of his face. "Yes, Lady Hokage. However, I was only on temporary assignment. I have a genin team to attend. You should consider appointing Shikaku Nara for this mission."

—The wilderness in the Land of Fire—

Itachi looked at Sasuke and activated his own Mangekyo Sharingan. "Do you think that you can kill me?" he asked, trying to goad Sasuke into fighting.

"Oh, screw you, Itachi. I don't even care anymore. Heheheh. Just do what you're going to do and get it over with," Sasuke droned, not sure if Itachi was even real.

Itachi stood motionless. '_What? This isn't right. He shouldn't be ambivalent. Cool, sure. Calm, fine. But this? Something is very wrong. Even his Mangekyo Sharingan looks wrong._'

"What happened to you?" Itachi asked without emotion.

"I killed them," Sasuke said, barely composed. "I killed everyone. Over and over and over and over again," he collapsed to the ground holding his head. "I didn't even make it quick," tears started to stream down his face. "I… I hurt them," he rasped. "They begged me to stop, but… I just went slower," he choked, sobbing into his hands. "They're all dead." He looked up at Itachi, his face smeared with tears and snot, his hands falling limp in his lap. "Is this what it's like for you? To be you? The looks? The pleading? The faces burned into your memory? I can't make it stop. I keep seeing it. Please, make it stop, Brother." His crazed, tear-filled Mangekyo Sharingan met Itachi's stern glare. Sasuke obviously expected Itachi to do something, but instead the older Uchiha's expression softened.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?" Itachi screamed, outrage boiling into his voice.

Sasuke just sobbed, sitting on the ground, curled into a ball repeating, "They're all dead. I killed them all."

'_He should have been safe in the village. He's not hardened. He's not strong. He can't kill me. He's broken. Danzo, you have spectacularly failed your end of the deal,_' Itachi thought furiously as he scooped Sasuke up and changed course to the Leaf village. Sasuke quietly sobbed and muttered for the entire trip.

Itachi passed through the gate into the Leaf village and continued directly to the hospital, bursting through the emergency room doors. "This is Sasuke Uchiha. He has suffered severe torture and requires sedation immediately," he told the surprised nurse in the hall. He held Sasuke as the nurse sedated Sasuke before calmly walking out of the hospital, raising his arms, and saying, "My name is Itachi Uchiha and I wish to surrender to the Hokage. Take whatever precautions you feel are necessary, but do not attempt to take me anywhere or stop me," his Mangekyo Sharingan was sharp and visible to all of the ANBU in the sun.

Itachi slowly walked from the hospital to the Hokage tower, his arms raised the entire way. He walked up the steps, catching glares from several jonins who had served with him in ANBU. The Hokage Tower had at least fifty ANBU guards making themselves invisible along with several chunins doing paperwork.

Itachi heard three women discussing something and he heard his name at least once as he walked into the Hokage's office. "Where is the Hokage?" he calmly asked, noting Kushina Uzumaki as one of the female voices he'd just heard.

The blonde woman stepped forward saying, "I am Tsunade Senju, Fifth Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. You must be Itachi Uchiha. We have much to discuss about your upcoming testimony against Danzo Shimura."


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I still own nothing about Naruto.

A/N: Taking a couple of liberties here. Canon never actually says what Itachi has, but it mentions that he's sick with something fatal. I also have no idea if he had Danzo's Root seal like Sai, but that seems like the sort of smart yet evil move that Danzo would make (my guess is that he did, but it never came up in canon). Not a whole lot of action in this chapter, but it covers most of the important stuff in the time-skip. Next chapter should see the characters at Shippuden-age so that I can add some romance to someone other than the middle-aged characters.

Feedback: leave it in the reviews. I want to know what people like and dislike.

**Chapter 14**

"This meeting of the jonin council will come to order," Tsunade boomed to the crowded room. "I know that there are those present who can bring me Danzo Shimura. I want him here. Now," she threatened.

The entire room was standing, looking at the only jonin sitting. Itachi sat quietly against a wall, not moving or flinching as the Hokage barked at jonin.

"As a preliminary explanation, I'll address Itachi Uchiha's presence," Tsunade started. "Itachi, show everyone the seal." Itachi opened his mouth and lifted his tongue to reveal the seal that kept him from discussing certain things. "Inoichi Yamanaka, send the three best chakra sensors here to analyze the chakra of this seal."

The three looked at the seal.

"And just to be safe, would the three of you mind showing us that you don't have similar seals?"

The three opened their mouths to show that they didn't have the same seal.

"Now, Itachi, tell everyone about Danzo," Tsunade continued.

Itachi opened his mouth, but no sound escaped his lips. The seal began to wrap around him, freezing him in place. After a few moments, the seal receded and he said, "There are certain things that I cannot discuss because of this seal."

"Well, I'd sure like to hear what those things are, but while we wait, what can you tell us about the massacre of the Uchiha clan?" Tsunade said, catching the assembled jonins' attention.

"The Uchiha ninjas were planning to stage a coup d'_é_tat. The leader of the rebellion was my father, Fugaku Uchiha. The Third Hokage wanted to talk him out of him, but I was ordered to slaughter the ninja of the clan. I was told that if I did this, my brother would be kept safe. I was not aware that someone else would kill all of the civilians as well," Itachi told as much as he could.

"And who ordered you to kill the Uchiha?" Tsunade prodded.

"I can't say," he said and then opened his mouth, pointing to the seal.

Tsunade turned to the three chakra sensors and asked, "Is the owner of that seal present in this room?"

One of the three looked out and confirmed, "No, Lady Hokage."

The doors to the meeting chamber opened, allowing a man covered in bandages and walking with a cane to limp in. "Ah, Danzo Shimura, leader of the ANBU black ops division. Good of you to join us," Tsunade said, nodding to the ANBU to secure the doors once more. "Is the chakra signature present now?"

The three chakra sensors nodded, with one speaking, "Yes, Lady Hokage. It is Lord Danzo's chakra signature."

Danzo quietly looked around, noticing Itachi and the room of jonin. Some of the jonin were part of his Root organization, but not enough. He stoically looked at the Hokage, asking, "What is it that I can do for the Lady Hokage?"

Tsunade turned to Itachi, who opened his mouth, revealing the seal, and then turned back to Danzo saying, "You can remove your seal from Itachi."

Danzo silently stood still for several moments before replying, "No," without further explanation. Tsunade smiled when he said that.

"It's a good seal. It protects the bearer from interrogation and even makes the bearer immune to the Yamanaka techniques. It is surely one of the lost sealing arts from the Village Hidden in the Whirlpool. However, Itachi has turned himself in for the judgment and this cannot be done by the Hokage's will while the seal persists. Your refusal to remove the seal means that Itachi knows something about you that would be troublesome if revealed. However, if the jonin council agrees, I would like to reinstate Itachi Uchiha to the village," Tsunade lectured.

"Should the seal in some way detonate, we can be sure that it was your will, Danzo Shimura, now that we know it's your seal. And you will be subject to the laws of the village for murdering a ninja, should that happen. Further, we can only assume that whatever information that seal stifles, it implicates you in more than disobeying a direct order from your Hokage, which merely means an immediate suspension of your ninja duties. You will, however, be under increased scrutiny from now on and you are no longer allowed to speak in the jonin council," Tsunade paused to let it sink in.

"Because we cannot verify Itachi's story, jonins of the Village Hidden in the Leaves: you must vote on whether or not to publicly reinstate Itachi Uchiha," Tsunade called. "Before you vote, know that the seal prevents Itachi's full reinstatement. He will be on probation until the seal is removed, just like Anko Mitarashi was while under the influence of a foreign seal."

Many of the jonin discussed it amongst themselves before Kakashi moved in front of the group and called for a show of hands to reinstate. More than half of the jonin voted in Itachi's favor, especially those who had worked with him in the past. Danzo limped out, seething at Itachi's betrayal with the seal restrictions.

Tsunade pulled out an intact forehead protector and presented it to Itachi. "Welcome home, Itachi."

—Uzumaki apartment—

Kushina finished explaining the meeting to Naruto at their apartment. "So Itachi is back?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. He has given the Hokage everything that he knows about the Akatsuki organization, which is considerable. Unfortunately, they may decide to attack the village because of the amount of sensitive information that Itachi has given us," Kushina explained.

Naruto thought on that prospect for a while. "You wouldn't be telling me this unless I was somehow involved," he stated.

"Well… Akatsuki wants the bijuu. All of them," Kushina explained.

Naruto sat quietly, thinking about the prospect of a whole horde of people like Itachi coming to get him. "I need to get stronger," he said, terrified. "MUCH stronger!"

—The Leaf Hospital—

"You have cancer, Itachi," Tsunade explained. "If you don't get treated soon, it will progress beyond the point where we can do anything about it."

"How long do I have?" Itachi asked. He'd just had his physical in order to see if he was fit for active duty and Tsunade was extremely thorough in looking at discrepancies.

"With treatment, you could live another fifty years. Without treatment, you'd be lucky to last two or three years," Tsunade explained. "I'm afraid that if you want to go on active duty, you must get treatment."

Itachi absorbed what the greatest medical ninja in the world was telling him. When he'd thought Sasuke would kill him, it hadn't seemed like such a problem that he might be dying. But Sasuke was in no shape to kill him. Sasuke needed someone to keep him in check while he recovered or he could use his Mangekyo Sharingan to burn the village to the ground.

"Then I must get treatment," Itachi resolved. "Put me in the same room as Sasuke. And if anything should happen to me, save my eyes for Sasuke. He hasn't deactivated his Mangekyo Sharingan since he activated it. He will go blind and then he'll need new eyes."

"Itachi…" Tsunade started. "You have cancer. Even when it goes into remission, if you give Sasuke your eyes, you could be giving him cancer as well."

Itachi paled. "What do you mean? I have tumors in my kidney. It shouldn't affect my eyes," Itachi asked, confused.

"You have tumors in your kidney, _right now_. We don't know that there aren't cancer cells elsewhere in your body. You could have cancer cells in your brain or your eyes or your bones. We don't actually know. Your treatment will remove the cancer that we can currently see, but you'll have to get regular checkups to make sure that it doesn't come back. You can't donate organs. Not even your eyes. It could be a death sentence for the recipient," Tsunade sternly explained.

"I'll schedule your treatment and you can stay with Sasuke," Tsunade told the horrified Uchiha.

'_I could have killed Sasuke by giving him the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan,_' Itachi thought. '_I never would have even known if Lady Tsunade hadn't told me. My plans never even considered this possibility. I'm going to need help. And new eyes myself._'

—Hokage Tower—

"Naruto, you are being assigned a long-term mission," Tsunade told the blonde genin. "The organization known as Akatsuki wants to collect all of the bijuu and you are the jinchuuriki for the most powerful of the bijuu. Itachi's information indicates that every member of Akatsuki is at least S-ranked. Your mission, until Jiraiya thinks that you are strong enough to face them, is to evade them and get stronger."

"Hang on a second," Naruto said, thinking deeply. "Does that mean that Pervy-sensei is going to train me away from the village? What about Kushina-sensei? And Sasuke? What about all of my team? My friends?"

"Kushina is an extremely valuable ninja to the village. She will remain here for at least the next year. Kakashi will go back into ANBU until you return. Sasuke will remain in the hospital until his condition improves. Sakura Haruno will apprentice under someone directly. Your friends will be informed of the impending danger and their jonin-senseis will take extra care," Tsunade responded, bored.

"But—" Naruto started.

"Learn to read between the lines!" Tsunade exploded. "Nobody is going to spoon-feed you answers. You must learn to read a situation. That's just one of the things Jiraiya should teach you. Go find the old goat and get out of here!" she screamed.

Naruto left only to be replaced by the elder Uzumaki. "Lady Hokage," she said as she bowed. "You have a special mission for me? Something more important that making sure Jiraiya doesn't slack in training?"

"Yes, Kushina. You will take over as head of ANBU. I need someone capable to take over. Take Kakashi as your top aid," Tsunade ordered. "You will also be tasked with figuring out how to break or remove that seal on Itachi. Your work on Anko's and Sasuke's seals was excellent. Itachi will take a teaching position while he is on probation. His treatments will severely debilitate him for a time anyway."

"Of course, Lady Hokage," Kushina nodded. "I'll begin work on that as soon as Itachi recovers from treatment."

"One last thing before you leave," Tsunade softened as she added, "Could you teach me the shadow clone jutsu? The paperwork is killing me…"

Kushina laughed, nodding. "Of course, Lady Hokage!"

—Leaf Hospital, weeks later—

Wet coughing and splashing sounds echoed from the toilet in Sasuke's room. Sasuke's vision was starting to blur, but he could still see chakra patterns. Itachi turned from the toilet, wiping his mouth. Itachi's hair had started falling out and he decided that shaving his head would be better than leaving chunks of hair in Sasuke's room.

"Brother?" Sasuke asked, seemingly lucid. "What happened to your hair?"

"I shaved it, Sasuke," Itachi replied again. "I… am so sorry…"

"Why? You wanted to test your skill, so you killed everyone. I understand," Sasuke smiled.

"That wasn't what happened back then, but that doesn't matter now. Orochimaru broke you," Itachi explained again. "And we won't discuss it again until—" Itachi hurriedly turned back to the toilet, making the same sickening cough as he vomited again. He stood, hobbling back to his bed this time.

"Brother?" Sasuke asked again. "What happened to your hair?"

"I shaved it, Sasuke," Itachi replied again. "You shouldn't have had to shoulder the burden alone."

"What burden?" Sasuke asked.

Itachi laid himself quietly into the bed next to Sasuke. He barely had enough chakra to keep his sharingan active, which was necessary to see through the madness Sasuke's Mangekyo Sharingan exuded. Sasuke had driven three nurses mad already, forcing them to take long absences while they recovered. Only Tsunade, Itachi, and Kakashi could manage to spend more than a few minutes in the room.

"Brother?" Sasuke asked, looking at Itachi lying in the adjacent bed. "What happened to your hair?"

Itachi started crying, his normally calm exterior cracking in the face of his broken brother. "I'm s—sorry. I—I'm s—so sor—ry, S—Sasu—ke. I'll f—fix th—this," Itachi managed to choke out through tears while thinking, '_Stupid chemicals are messing me up. I should be able to control myself better than this._'

—After several months on the road, Naruto and Jiraiya—

"How am I supposed to learn about information gathering if I always wait outside, Pervy-sensei?" Naruto pestered.

"I'll make sure that you learn my super-secret information gathering techniques after you turn sixteen. For now, I'm going to pump some sources for information," Jiraiya smiled at his double entendre as he walked into another brothel. "Practice your chakra manipulations."

Naruto sighed, not understanding the joke, but getting to work on the drills he still hadn't mastered and a few that he had.

—ANBU headquarters—

"Dog, report," Kushina ordered.

"Mission: successful, Lord Fox," Kakashi replied as he set the takeout on the desk. "Also, pig, horse, and snake report that the targets have been eliminated."

"Excellent," Kushina replied. "Lunch time! And then we visit Sasuke."

—The Leaf Academy—

"Konohamaru Sarutobi, you have to put time into practice," Itachi lectured from his wheelchair. He was still recovering from his treatments. "You should be first in the class. How do you expect to be a great ninja like your grandfather if you don't practice?"

"Gramps never practiced," the boy muttered.

"You never saw him practice, but he worked incredibly hard to get where he was," Itachi explained. "If you don't practice, you will fail out of the academy."

"You can barely walk, Itachi-sensei. I bet I could beat you," Konohamaru started to yell. "How come all of the teachers here are such weaklings?"

"Genjutsu," Itachi said, mostly for the other students. Konohamaru's eyes glazed over for several minutes as Iruka got on with teaching the class throwing techniques.

—Leaf Hospital, months later—

"It would appear that the cancer has gone into remission," Tsunade explained. "You are officially off of the medically disabled list, Itachi."

Itachi maintained his calm, but was internally excited to be able to spend more time working with Tsunade to treat Sasuke's trauma. "Lady Hokage, may we discuss Sasuke now?"

"What's on your mind?" she replied.

"There is only one genjutsu that can pierce the Mangekyo Sharingan: Kotoamatsukami," Itachi explained.

"And that was the genjutsu of Shisui 'the teleporter' Uchiha. Who died years ago," Tsunade narrowed her eyes.

"Is there any other way to help Sasuke recover? He hasn't made any progress in the last eight months. His short-term memory is still shot and his long-term memory is jumbled. When Orochimaru set out to break Sasuke, he did an extremely thorough job," Itachi commented.

"Let's discuss the limits of the genjutsu. I'll clear a place to meet. Kushina and Inoichi will join us…" Tsunade trailed.

—Somewhere in the Land of Water—

"Lord Jiraiya, the Hokage requires you and your apprentice in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Immediately," the tiny slug informed the sannin. Jiraiya looked over at Naruto balancing a tiny rasengan on each finger.

'_That kid is actually going to get good enough to do that exercise. Even I can't make one on each finger,_' he thought as he watched. "How immediate?" Jiraiya asked the slug.

"It's about Sasuke Uchiha's treatment. The Yamanaka has catalogued most of Sasuke's memories, but they need to go through the people closest to him for verification. Naruto is the last one. Itachi and Inoichi are going to use the information to reboot Sasuke's brain. Summon Lord Fukasaku," the slug replied. Jiraiya summoned the elder toad, knowing that he could get back to the Leaf village in a few hours by reverse-summoning to Mount Myoboku first. It took a minute to summon that particular toad due to his power and status. Katsuyu implied that whatever Tsunade wanted was important enough to use that route.

"Naruto!" Jiraiya called. "Collapse your clones and pack your things. We're heading out."

Naruto dispelled his clones in small groups as he jogged over to the sannin. "Is this another hot springs trip?" he complained. "Do you HAVE to get kicked out of EVERY bath house in EVERY country?"

"We're going to Mount Myoboku, home of the toads," Jiraiya explained. "So shut up about the bath houses."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Is the next Icha Icha volume going to involve toads?"

"NO! THIS IS BUSINESS! STOP ASSUMING I'M DOING SOMETHING PERVERSE ALL THE TIME!" Jiraiya screamed.

"Calm down, Jiraiya-boy," the old toad soothed. "The kid has you pegged and you know it. Now what's this about going to Mount Myoboku?"

Jiraiya stared at Naruto for a second before turning back to Lord Fukasaku. "We are needed, urgently, back in the Leaf village. It was important enough for Katsuyu to ask us to take the route through Mount Myoboku."

Naruto finished dispelling the last group of his clones and began to pack thinking, '_If summoning is basically a time-space ninjutsu, then it is related to the Flying Thunder God technique. I should definitely pay attention._'

Naruto saw the small, elderly toad dispel and Jiraiya turned to him. "Are you ready to go?" Jiraiya asked.

Naruto nodded. He had several scrolls in his backpack that contained spare clothes, extra supplies, food, blankets, a tent, and a bunch of other camping equipment. The backpack had been mostly for show ever since he'd mastered basic storage seals. Suddenly, he and Jiraiya were no longer in the Land of Water, but at the foot of a massive mountain, surrounded by alien vegetation and a bunch of toads.

"Welcome back, Jiraiya-boy. It's been a while," an elderly female toad exclaimed. "Pa told us that you're in a hurry, but you'll have to wait a few hours until the kids get set up near the Leaf village."

Jiraiya bowed and said, "Thanks, Lady Shima."

"And this is Naruto's first trip to the mountain! I'll make us something special," she smiled, hopping home to prepare grubs and worm and bug delicacies for Naruto.

—Leaf Hospital, Sasuke's room, two weeks later—

"Did it work?" a voice asked. It was like Naruto's, but older. Sasuke blinked.

"Did what work?" Sasuke asked. His vision was completely blurred. He couldn't even make out shapes. "Why can't I see?"

"Sasuke, what do you remember?" a woman's voice asked.

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked, tensing.

"She's the head of the hospital, Sasuke," Kushina's soothing voice cooed. "How do you feel?"

Sasuke thought about it for a minute. '_Kushina is here. Naruto is here. My voice is different than I remember, but so is Naruto's. I must have been unconscious for a very long time. Wait, I remember… Itachi! But he was bald. And thin. Was he sick? This is weird. I can't remember._'

"I don't know. I'm having trouble remembering things," Sasuke responded.

"He's coherent, so that's an improvement," the head doctor said.

"Sasuke," Itachi's voice froze Sasuke in place. "There is a lot that you may not remember. We were as thorough as possible, but the damage was extensive. Please, don't react until you learn everything."

"Why can't I see?" Sasuke slowly asked.

Itachi answered, "You've overused the Mangekyo Sharingan. You had it active for ten months, day and night. Your mind was broken and couldn't shut it off. It took Kushina ten months to create a seal that would shut it off for you. We couldn't even figure out what was wrong with you until then."

Sasuke slowly thought about what he could remember. He remembered Itachi standing over their parents with a bloody tanto. He remembered Kushina hugging him. He remembered playing pranks together with Naruto. He remembered fragments of a pink-haired girl and a white-haired jonin with a single sharingan.

"Don't try too hard to remember. It will take time to heal. When you're ready, Itachi and Kakashi are going to start your rehabilitation," Kushina explained. "In the meantime, you'll be living with me again."

'_And when you're ready, we're going to find Danzo and take back the eyes he stole so that you can see again,_' Itachi thought. '_Together._'


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I still own nothing about Naruto.

A/N: 1 ryo is about 10 yen. 1 dollar is about 100-150 yen, depending on the market and exchange rates; let's just assume it's 1:100. Therefore, 1 dollar is about 10 ryo. It's in the wiki; check it.

Itachi might not have had one of Danzo's seals in canon. Doesn't matter. It works better for this story if he does. So I guess this is where I start moving away from canon. Not that I'm going to have jutsus work any differently, but this!Naruto has a very different training experience than canon!Naruto.

Remember to leave feedback in the reviews. Big thanks to those who already have.

**Chapter 15**

Naruto gasped as his broken rib punctured his lung. Another Root operative had joined in the fight to hold Team Kakashi and Team Guy at bay. He looked up at the ANBU mask, the operative foolishly thinking that giving Naruto time would instill a sense of fear in the fiery blonde.

"Sage Mode." Naruto's eyes turned into golden disks with a single horizontal pupil and the telltale orange shade surrounding them.

—Two months earlier—

"I haven't taught you every single jutsu I know, but do you really need them?" Jiraiya asked. "I'm telling you that your training with me is finished."

Naruto frowned, pouting, "But Jiraiya-sensei!"

"Your mother wants to see you anyway," Jiraiya said, knowing that Naruto would straighten at the mention of Kushina. The two had been travelling together for three years. But ever since Naruto had turned sixteen, Jiraiya started taking him to train in the brothels and Naruto had found another aspect of being a ninja that he thoroughly enjoyed.

'_Must not tell mom about "hentai-jutsus." Must not tell mom about "hentai-jutsus,"_' Naruto repeated to himself, knowing that she would think that Jiraiya had corrupted him by exposing him to one of the three ninja vices. He certainly wasn't as sex-obsessed as Jiraiya, but he knew how to have a good time.

"You're an even bigger pervert than I am and I am the Great Super-Pervert, Jiraiya!" Jiraiya posed momentarily in front of the brothel they'd just left. Naruto energetically ran from the stupid pose and, after a few miles, they stopped discussing the brothel to discuss actual business.

"That 'super-pervert' cover has got to be the most ingenious thing ever, Jiraiya-sensei," Naruto commented, still smiling.

"It isn't a cover," Jiraiya grumbled before sarcastically adding, "You think Kushina will approve of you going that route?"

Naruto's smile turned into a laugh for a few seconds before panicked realization overcame him. "Crap!"

Jiraiya chuckled. "Yep. Looks like you're stuck getting assassins while I take all of the seduction experts. MUAHAHAHA! What were we talking about again?"

The two joked on the road back to the Village Hidden in the leaves. The last time either had been back was to help treat Sasuke and that had been two years ago. They walked into the village, which had undergone renovations in several places.

Naruto and Jiraiya waved at the gate attendants as they walked into the village. Naruto looked good. His intense training ethic left him well muscled while his good diet and genes had kicked in to put him at a noticeable five feet, nine inches tall. He maintained his blonde hair to keep it spikey, but shorter than his father's hair. His blue eyes had made him incredibly popular with women now that he looked like an adult and had the confidence to back it up. He no longer carried a backpack since he stored all of his equipment in a single storage scroll.

His outfit was different now too. Rather than the orange he sported all through the academy, he wore a dark blue jacket that had a small Uzumaki crest in orange on the shoulder along with black pants.

"I'm gonna get some ramen, Jiraiya-sensei. You have to report to the Hokage anyway, right?" Naruto asked, hoping to get some food before he had to report in.

"Yeah, sure. Get some food," Jiraiya replied. "Don't take too long though. The Fifth is going to want to assess your skills."

Naruto bounded down familiar streets straight for Ichiraku Ramen. The stand had expanded since he'd last been home so that instead of just five or six seats in front, it was a round stand with more than a dozen seats ringing it. Noodles hung from the inside waiting for their final bath before going into a bowl.

Naruto sat down and waited for a familiar female face to ask him for his order. Ayame moved over to him, obviously busy. "What can we— NARUTO?"

"Hey! Think you can swing my usual?" he winked with a big, foxy grin.

"Of course!" she exclaimed, writing quickly onto her pad and sending it over to the trio of chefs making different types of ramen. "When did you get back?" she asked.

"Just now. This was my first stop," Naruto smiled. "Gotta support the local businesses, right?" He smiled in that charming way that he knew got ladies a little worked up.

He inhaled his three bowls of ramen and paid the bill before walking toward the Hokage tower. A familiar white cat streaked past followed by three genin. Neji strolled behind the genin, pausing to say, "Hello, Naruto. Welcome back," and then strolling casually after the genin.

Naruto continued down the street, looking for any other old friends. He spotted Shikamaru with the blonde girl from the Sand village. Both had green chunin vests.

"Hey, Shikamaru!" Naruto called.

"Hey, Naruto. Finally back?" Shikamaru responded.

"Yep. Heading to the Hokage right now, actually," Naruto explained.

"Good. I hope you take my place. I don't want to go to the chunin exams," Shikamaru complained. "So troublesome…"

The blonde Sand-nin responded, "Right? If I have to listen to another bunch of genin bitch about failing, I'm going to snap."

"I just hope I can convince the Hokage to give me a field promotion instead of taking the exams. I've been on the road the last few years and didn't get a chance to take any makeups. What's up with you?" Naruto asked.

Shikamaru sighed, "I'm trying to avoid becoming a jonin. My father keeps trying to get me to take his spot with the Hokage so he can retire, but then I'd have to do his job. Being a chunin leaves me with much more free time."

"That's the life though," Naruto commented. "We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot; a pirate's life for me!" Naruto sang with a smile.

Temari frowned, saying, "We're ninjas, not pirates."

"Aw, crap! I've been doing it wrong this whole time!" Naruto joked his smile widening. '_I knew she was the serious type,_' he internally cheered.

"Heh. Meet me later for a game?" Shikamaru replied, brushing aside Naruto's obvious needling of the girl.

"Sure," Naruto replied before they all heard Naruto's name shouted from the Hokage tower. "Sounds like I'm late. See ya!" he said as he ran to the tower. He jumped up to the office and in through the window out of reflex.

"There you are," Tsunade calmly said as she noticed him in the window. "Welcome home. Before we put you on active duty, I'll have to determine whether Jiraiya has done his job or he's just taught you how to be a lazy author."

"What kind of test? Skills demonstration? Sparring? Infiltration?" Naruto asked, genuinely curious.

'_Anko's infiltration test was remarkable at weeding out people who couldn't hide their strength,_' Tsunade thought at the mention of infiltration. "All of the above. First, I've arranged for a sparring partner to test and evaluate your battle skills tomorrow morning in the Forest of Death," Tsunade smiled.

"Sounds good. What time?" Naruto asked.

"Be at the main gate at seven," Tsunade replied.

"Got it. Do you happen to know if Kushina, Kakashi, Sakura, or Sasuke are around?" Naruto asked, hoping to cut his search time down.

"Kushina and Kakashi are with ANBU, but Kushina should be in town or soon returning. Sasuke and Itachi are probably at your place. Sakura is at the hospital," Tsunade listed.

"What's wrong with Sakura?" Naruto asked, concerned for his old teammate.

"Nothing. She works there. She teaches the academy medical course two days a week and treats patients four days a week," Tsunade answered. Between Kushina running ANBU and Tsunade's use of a shadow clone or two, she'd managed to implement several of the pet projects she'd wanted to implement since the Third Great Ninja War. "This is the first year we've required a first aid jutsu along with the other three to become genin," she beamed proudly.

"Really? Isn't that more advanced than a transformation?" Naruto asked absently, itching to go see whomever he could find.

"A little, but we've seen an increase in mission efficiency that makes up the increased failure rate at the academy," Tsunade replied.

"Neat. Tomorrow at seven?" Naruto asked, obviously not as interested in discussing policy as Tsunade was in bragging about it.

"Yes. Tomorrow at seven. Dismissed," Tsunade nodded disappointedly, sitting back down at the desk.

Naruto leapt out the window, running across rooftops to get back to his home. He jumped through the open window to see Sasuke and Itachi eating with Kushina. "Hi, everyone!" he exclaimed walking into the living room. Kushina was out of her seat in a blur, tackling Naruto in a big hug.

"You're home!" Kushina exclaimed with a wide smile. Even Itachi smiled a little at the spectacle. Sasuke turned, but kept his eyes closed. They weren't technically _his_ eyes since his eyes were in suspended animation and the eyes he had were transplanted from a donor.

Naruto returned the hug and stood up. He looked remarkably like the pictures of Minato, but he was a built a little heavier than Minato. And the whisker marks on his cheeks, of course.

"Tell me what you've been up to," Naruto pressed the group as he sat at the table.

Kushina responded, "Well, I've been in charge of ANBU and Hinata convinced me to train her, so I've been pretty busy. Did you study the scrolls I sent you?"

"Yes. I've got a knack for sealing. I think you'll be impressed, if you have time to watch my evaluation tomorrow," Naruto smirked.

Itachi chuckled. "I'm pretty curious, but I'll wait to see tomorrow. If you've got time, Sasuke would probably like to spar, but his eyes are sealed at the hospital until we can get him new Uchiha eyes." Itachi's vision was only in the early stages of faltering, but he could still see fine with the glasses he now wore.

"I read some legends about the sharingan, now that you mention it. It said that Madara Uchiha started to go blind because of the Mangekyo Sharingan, but he transplanted his brother's eyes," Naruto started lecturing.

"Unfortunately, that isn't an option for us," Sasuke started.

"I can't donate my eyes," Itachi finished, a little sad.

"Oh," Naruto said, followed by an awkward silence. "Well, what have you been up to aside from eye transplants, Sasuke?"

"After I left the hospital, we spent several weeks relaxing here before I started training again. Itachi and Kakashi trained me in the use of the sharingan for several months before even my Mangekyo Sharingan was completely blind. After that, we tried training with a different set of eyes, but they burned outquickly. I've been training to fight blind ever since," Sasuke explained. "The hospital informed us that organ donors' eyes largely go unused, but that they would save compatible eyes in case I burn out another set."

"I take it you've been trying Earth Style, mostly?" Naruto asked, knowing from fighting blind opponents that was the easiest.

"At first," Sasuke responded cagily. "I can't use many of the lightning techniques that I know without vision, but I use fire and water ninjutsu too. My genjutsu has gotten almost as good as Itachi's though," he smiled.

"Nice! We're gonna have to spar soon. I wanna see where we are," Naruto commented. He nodded to Itachi, "I guess you've been living here too, but what have you been up to?"

"I spent most of that first year you were gone in treatment for cancer," Itachi stoically commented. "If I hadn't found Sasuke, I would be suffering from the terminal stages right now. I'm very thankful to the Fifth Hokage for taking me in and changing my outlook. I've mostly taught at the academy with Iruka because I have a seal that stops me from being fully cleared."

"Is it from Orochimaru?" Naruto interrupted, thinking back to when his mother had commented on Orochimaru's cursed seal.

"No. I can't talk about it, but it mostly stops me from being fully cleared. Kushina has suggested that I could overpower it, if I increase my chakra level enough. My own training has focused on that, but it took nearly a year to get back to the level it was at before I started treatment and every attempt I've made so far has failed, so I'm still working on it," Itachi continued. "I think that we all have an early day tomorrow, so I'm going to get some sleep. You should probably follow suit."

Although excited, the two younger boys decided that being tired for a test wouldn't be a good idea and everyone went to bed early.

—Training ground seven, 7:00 AM—

"Good to see you here on time," Tsunade nodded to Naruto. "Your worthless sensei couldn't be bothered to make it, I see."

'_Jiraiya-sensei is checking in with the women in his spy network. Is she trying to piss me off?_' he thought. "I'm sure he's doing something very important. Stop trying to change the subject. You want to see me fight someone, right? Let's get on with it." Naruto was itching to show off.

"Very well. Itachi, explain the test," Tsunade ordered as Itachi appeared in a swirl of leaves.

Itachi pulled out a single bell, holding it up. "Naruto, you are familiar with the bell test?" Naruto nodded in reply. "Excellent. You must retrieve this bell before noon."

"Before we start, Itachi, I don't suppose you'd mind breaking a hundred ryo bill? I was hoping to get a drink before we started and there's a vending machine just down the street," Naruto asked, licking his lips.

Itachi sighed, pulling out his wallet. "Sure. Here," he said, annoyed, as he exchanged coins for the bill. Naruto darted off to the vending machine while Itachi opened the gate into the forest. Naruto returned with a sports drink and a small box of pocky. The sports drink was already mostly finished by the time Naruto caught up to Itachi in a clearing. "Are you ready to go now?" Itachi asked patiently, the three tomoe spinning in his eyes already.

"Yeah. Let's do it!" Naruto exclaimed, wiping his chin to make sure he hadn't dribbled after he set down the drink bottle and pocky box.

Itachi looked at Naruto from the middle of the clearing, saying, "Go." Itachi dodged a couple of kunai, keeping his distance from the blonde. "You'll have to close the distance, especially if that's the best you can do."

Naruto smiled, quickly running through hand signs before pulling out a single shuriken. "Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu." Naruto threw a single shuriken that multiplied into more than one hundred. Itachi pulled out a kunai to deflect some while he dodged the others. Naruto repeated the process, back to back, several times with different projectiles. Each time, Itachi dodged and blocked the shuriken or kunai and each time the cloned projectiles would disperse, leaving only the single projectile embedded around their little battlefield.

"I guess it's time to take this to the next level, eh Itachi?" Naruto smirked, channeling lightning chakra into his nervous system. Naruto's movements became faster than body-flicker and he struck at Itachi. Itachi blocked the first strike, barely deflected the second strike, but took the third strike hard in his leg.

"Your supplemental ninjutsu techniques are excellent. Do you have any offensive ninjutsu with range or is it all taijutsu and supplemental skills?" Itachi asked, standing and rubbing his leg.

Naruto created a single shadow clone as Itachi's sharingan morphed from the three-tomoe pattern to a three-pronged, curved shuriken. "Tornado Inferno." Naruto blew a massive torrent of air while the clone blew an equally massive gout of flame that mixed with the air. Itachi's eyes widened as he forced chakra that wracked his body to form around him.

"Susano'o." A massive yellow skeleton surrounded Itachi only to be covered in tendrils of red that formed an armored warrior forming a protective shell around the Uchiha. "Mixing two B-rank jutsus to form an A-rank or possibly S-rank combo. What else have you got?" Itachi asked, adding, "Hurry up, I don't want to keep this up for any longer than necessary."

Naruto nodded, standing next to one of his lost kunai, and formed a clone before a ball of visibly spinning chakra formed in his hand. As it formed, the chakra thinned further and further, emitting a high-pitched squeal, until only the sharingan could see the width. "Wind Style: Rasenshuriken." He threw the ball of cutting death at Itachi as the clone disappeared in a puff of smoke, but the red warrior absorbed it with its shield. Itachi flinched as the jutsu exploded and then faded into the shield.

While most of the spectators had gasped at the jutsu and the explosion, Kakashi widened both eyes as the light dissipated. "Naruto just beat Itachi," he commented.

"That was impressive, but Itachi is still protected by that ultimate defense," Tsunade said.

Kakashi smiled, "And yet Naruto has the bell."

Naruto held up the bell for everyone to see and Itachi looked down to his waist to see the spot empty. "How?" Itachi asked, letting his Susano'o fade and releasing his sharingan entirely.

"Flying Thunder God." Naruto flashed around the battlefield, picking up each projectile, before flashing behind Itachi, beaming a thousand watt smile. "I marked the bill I handed you earlier. You said you couldn't keep up the pace, so I created a clone and started that jutsu. I used a time-space jutsu to get behind you and grab the bell while you were distracted by that other jutsu."

Kakashi looked at Tsunade with an expression that looked suspiciously like "I told you so" without him actually saying it. Tsunade scoffed before jumping down into the clearing. "Itachi, report."

"Yes, Lady Hokage. Overall taijutsu: A-rank. Speed: S-rank. Power: B-rank. Technique: A-rank. Overall ninjutsu: A-rank. Wind style: S-rank. Fire Style: B-rank. Lightning Style: B-rank. Water and Earth Style: unknown. Chakra Shaping: A-rank. Overall genjutsu: unknown, estimated B-rank. Chakra Control: A-rank. Chakra Level: beyond my ability to measure."

"Naruto, do you agree?" the older blonde woman asked.

"My water and Earth Styles are D-rank. I've worked on them for a long time and that's the best they're going to get. Itachi is overestimating my genjutsu ability. I can break B-ranks, but I have very little practice with even that. I have never successfully used a genjutsu. My fuinjutsu is A-rank," Naruto listed. "But I still haven't figured out how to tag a spot on the fly like the Fourth could."

"Kakashi, get down here and report," Tsunade called, followed by the scarecrow of a man jumping to Tsunade's side.

"I agree with Itachi," Kakashi said quickly with a smile.

"Asuma," Tsunade called and the bearded jonin put out his cigarette before body-flickering into a bow before the Hokage.

"I was impressed with how well he incorporated his abilities to fight. Itachi and Kakashi are rarely wrong. I agree with their assessments," the man replied, adding, "However, I'd like to see what else he can do."

"Hmm. His abilities in open combat are very well developed. I wonder how fair it would be to put him in the exams, but the exams are required," Tsunade mused. "Naruto, you're going to supplement other teams while we assess your other abilities. You'll spend one mission with each team and each mission will be a chance for you to show off your abilities to infiltrate, follow orders, work with others, and so forth. Take the rest of today off."

Naruto nodded, picking up his sports drink and handing the pocky to Itachi saying, "I heard you like these," before bounding back into the village. Once Naruto was safely away, Tsunade turned to Itachi. "Did you strain your eyes?"

"No. I wish that we could have seen more of what he learned, but I'm glad that I didn't have to keep that going for long," Itachi responded.

"Do you have anything else to say now that he's gone?" Tsunade asked the three jonin.

"Yet another reason I'm glad I'm not in Akatsuki anymore: I don't think that I could capture him without getting killed," Itachi replied. "But that was the point of Jiraiya training him."

Kakashi nodded. "That last Wind Style jutsu is an instant-kill technique. I don't know how many of those he can do in one day, but I know how many he would try."

"I don't think I have enough chakra for even one of those things," Asuma added. "That's an impressive jutsu."

Kushina body-flickered from her place in the trees into the conversation. "He wasn't lying about sealing. I gave him a lot of the Uzumaki scrolls and some had Minato's notes in the margins."

"Do you want him for ANBU?" Tsunade asked, genuinely curious.

"He should do a stint in ANBU, but not yet. Once the Akatsuki threat diminishes, we can talk about it again," the red-haired ANBU commander evaluated.

—The Desert outside of the Village Hidden in the Sand—

"You have your man in the guards, yeah?" a blonde man wearing a black coat with red clouds pestered.

"Yes," the hunched form wearing a similar cloak rumbled. "Infiltrating the village won't be a problem. Don't fail."

"You get us in. I'll kidnap the Kazekage," the child-like blonde responded.

—Inside a tent filled with books and scrolls—

"There! I've found it, Lord Orochimaru!" Kabuto shouted. Orochimaru's pale form opened the tent flap, revealing ruins behind him as he entered.

"Show me," Orochimaru ordered as he read over the grey-haired medic-nin. "Guren!" he called without waiting for a response. "Change the excavation. Search for the location of the Uzumaki clan's mask shrine."


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto.

A/N: A little character development. A little philosophy. A little humor. Not much action this week, but, if that's a problem for you, that's something to mention in the reviews. Three guesses who is going to be the victim of some pranks in coming chapters…

I went back through and checked previous chapters online for errors. Apparently, cut&paste on larger scale results in errors. Who knew? Anyway, if you don't leave feedback, I'll never change. Feedback should go in the reviews for all the world to see, even if you hate it.

**Chapter 16**

"All I need is a couple of drops," Naruto pleaded. "And then we'll never have to do another 'Capture Tora' mission ever again."

"You're not bleeding the cat," Shikamaru responded. "We aren't supposed to hurt the troublesome little fucker."

"I don't want to have to chase that monster again. I did it eight times as a genin. I got my training out of it and I appreciate that genin gain valuable experience from chasing the little monster, but what I'm saying is that WE won't have to do it EVER again," Naruto explained.

"But you want ME to hold it down for you," Shikamaru responded with a sigh. "Besides, it'll be Tora's progeny by then."

"Dammit!" Naruto cursed, knowing that he wouldn't convince his lazy friend. He quickly changed his attitude though. "Have you worked with Ebisu before? He's the jonin-sensei for my evaluation this morning."

"Nope. I mostly coordinate events like the chunin exams and when I do go out on a mission, it's usually a chunin cell," Shikamaru explained. "Your mom has been bugging me to join ANBU, but the training program is too much work. And I don't want to do assassinations."

"That reminds me, why are you up so early?" Naruto flinched away from thinking about his mom ruthlessly killing people.

"I'm going to Sand for a few weeks to discuss the next chunin exam," Shikamaru replied. "And if I'm late, then I get stuck with chores on the trip."

Naruto laughed at how his friend was motivated by laziness. "Wow. They really have you figured out, eh?"

"Yeah, yeah. Are you going to come all the way to Sand or do you have somewhere else to be?" Shikamaru pestered.

Naruto stopped, calling, "See you when you get back!" before running back to the Hokage tower. He leapt in through the window, seeing Ebisu and three genin standing in front of the Hokage desk. "So what's today's challenge?" he smiled from the window.

One of the genin boys had brown, spikey hair and an absurdly long scarf. The other boy was tall with short brown hair and glasses. The girl had orange hair up in pigtails along with a skirt and long boots. All three looked unimpressed. Ebisu stood behind the trio wearing a dark bandana and sunglasses along with his matching dark clothes.

"Naruto will be leading Team Ebisu on their mission today," Tsunade repeated. "The daimyo's wife—"

Naruto interrupted, sighing, "Lost her cat, Tora. Again."

Tsunade nodded in affirmation. "Tora is a brown cat with a red bow tied behind its ear and amber eyes," Tsunade explained. "Bring it back here as soon as you capture it. You have until sunset to complete the mission. Dismissed," she finished, waving the ninja out of her office.

Naruto walked out with Team Ebisu. Ebisu turned to his team in the hall saying stoically, "Today I will grade the team on how you work as a team. Naruto, I will report to the Hokage on your ability to lead this team."

"Alright! Everyone meet at Ichiraku Ramen and we'll discuss strategies for this mission!" Naruto smiled at the shocked genin before running outside and across rooftops.

The three genin followed suit, leaving an exasperated Ebisu behind. Naruto sat at the large, circular stand, casually waiting for the genin to catch up. The three were out of breath from sprinting across rooftops, so Naruto pulled out three stools and motioned for the three to sit.

"I hope you like ramen 'cause I already ordered you all a bowl," Naruto started. "Before we start, we should all have a good breakfast. And while we wait, let's all introduce ourselves. Give your name, your likes and dislikes, and your dreams. I'll go first. My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like…" he paused, muttering, "wow, now I know why Kakashi was quiet about it…" He looked at the confused genin continuing, "I like ramen and challenges. I dislike stuck up people and bullies. My dream is to be Hokage. And maybe bring peace to the ninja world."

The three just sat there while Ayame served up four bowls of ramen. The one with the scarf scoffed. "What's the point? You've read our personnel files."

"That's true: I'm only going to be your team leader for today, but so what? I'm gonna do my best!" Naruto smiled. "Now tell me about yourselves because none of that stuff except your name is in your personnel file."

"Tsk. Fine," the cranky boy in the scarf muttered. "My name is Konohamaru Sarutobi. I liked my grampa, but he's dead now. I like my team and upsetting the status quo. I dislike being treated like just another extension of gramps and people who kiss my ass. My dream is to prove that I'm better than even gramps," he finished sourly.

Naruto smiled, "As long as you work hard, you can do anything, Spikey. Pigtails, how about you?"

"Me?" the girl replied.

"You're the only one with pigtails," Naruto winked with a thousand-watt smile.

"My name is Moegi. I like gentlemen and I dislike perverted behavior. My dream is to enjoy life," she finished.

"Wow. You'd really hate my sensei… Glasses, you're up," Naruto said.

"My name is Udon. I like math and dislike noise. My dream is to be cool," the brown-haired boy explained.

"Great! Now eat your ramen. That cat is a pain," Naruto said as he set to eating his bowl of morning ramen. The three just stared. "Seriously. Eat. It's on me," Naruto explained when he noticed they weren't eating.

"We already ate breakfast, Uzumaki-sensei," Moegi replied.

"First mission requirement: a full stomach," Naruto held up his finger as he spoke before wolfing down his bowl. The genin trio looked on in horror before deciding that eating would be better than watching Naruto eat.

'_This is the Red-hot Habanero's son? He's so undisciplined…_' Ebisu thought as he watched.

Naruto finished and paid the bill while the younger ninjas finished. Naruto dug out the four radios from his pouch and checked the batteries and frequencies. "For this mission, we're going to stay in contact. These have enough range to cover almost the entire village. I'll be in the center of the village," Naruto started explaining as Konohamaru finished his bowl.

"Why won't you be helping us?" Konohamaru asked.

"I am. I'm just not doing the mission for you," Naruto replied. "You three will fan out around the village and search for Tora. Do not, I say again, DO NOT engage that cat alone. Once you locate Tora, let me know and we'll take it from there."

The three took a moment to put the radios on, attach the earpiece and microphones, and check to make sure the things worked. "Fan out. Focus on places cats enjoy, like sunlit areas and fish vendors," Naruto said over the radios as he hopped up on the rooftop of the nearest building. Ebisu appeared next to him and he cut his mic before saying, "You want to listen in? I brought an extra radio with an earpiece."

Ebisu nodded and Naruto handed him the equipment. "Report if you find anything. Otherwise, report in every fifteen minutes," Naruto radioed once Ebisu had gotten his radio set up. The three genin acknowledged the order.

—Seven hours later—

"Target spotted," Moegi's voice crackled over the radio.

Naruto smiled at Ebisu and killed his mic again. "Did you ever work with the Fourth Hokage?"

Ebisu frowned in confusion before answering, "Once or twice. Why?"

Naruto smiled at the jonin, "Grab my shoulder. Its late and this isn't cheating." Ebisu felt vertigo as Naruto teleported both of them to Udon. "I marked the radios," Naruto commented before turning to the confused genin saying, "Grab on." The three surprised Konohamaru who was on a rooftop trying to spot Naruto and Ebisu. "Grab on," Naruto instructed the young Sarutobi.

Ebisu silently ran behind a tree to vomit as soon as they appeared behind Moegi. "Moegi and Udon, prepare an ambush while Konohamaru sneaks around Tora and drives it towards the ambush. Quickly and quietly," Naruto whispered to the team. "Move out."

The three genin did as instructed and captured the cat with only a minor chase. Naruto pulled out a scroll and unsealed a kennel before the cat could struggle free.

"How did you know to bring a kennel, Naruto-sensei?" Konohamaru asked.

"The daimyo's wife spends a lot of time in the village. This mission comes up a lot," Naruto replied. "I thought I saw Team Neji on this mission a few days ago. Let's return to the Hokage and get paid, eh?"

Ebisu looked up. "We're walking!" he exclaimed, still looking a little green.

—The Village Hidden in the Sand—

The guard force lay dead except for a single man at the entrance to the Village Hidden in the Sand. He looked around at his comrades' bodies in horror before a kunai flew at him and sank into his throat. The last man gurgled helplessly as two figures in black cloaks featuring red clouds strolled through the entrance.

"I'll wait here," the hunched form rasped. "Hurry up."

"Don't worry. I'll show them my art," the blonde replied, summoning a massive clay bird.

—Uzumaki apartment, post-mission—

Naruto felt something was off as he opened the door. He wasn't sure exactly what it was until he closed the door behind him and heard noises coming from his mother's room. "Oh, goddammit," he muttered before calling, "I'm HO-OME!" as loudly as he could. The noises from his mother's room abruptly stopped.

He could hear clothes being rustled in Kushina's bedroom as he sat at the kitchen table wondering, '_Why me? If only Kushina's bedroom had a window, I could just pretend that I know nothing… *sigh* Might as well give them a hard time…_'

Kushina came out of the bedroom, quickly closing the door behind her. "You're home early," she smiled. "How about we celebrate your short day?"

"Sure," Naruto replied. "But you need a shower first. You kinda smell like sex," he said scrunching up his nose.

"Naruto!" Kushina took a disappointed mother tone.

"Which would explain what I heard when I first came in," Naruto continued, making his best innocent face.

"NARUTO!" Kushina exclaimed, reddening.

"Should've put a sock on the doorknob or something," Naruto trailed, his expression now disturbed.

"NARUTO!" Kushina yelled.

"Bright side: I only heard noises. I didn't see anything, so I'm not all that scarred," Naruto went on. "Maybe, if my new daddy buys me ice cream, that'll make it all better," he said sarcastically.

Kushina turned a shade of embarrassed purple. "Okay! I get it! I'm caught! I'll put a sock on the doorknob next time."

Naruto shrugged, "It's what Jiraiya and I had worked out."

Kushina's eyes went wide, but before she could yell at him, he interrupted. "I was only half joking about the smell though. A shower isn't going to kill you, Kushina-sensei." Kushina slunk back to her bedroom, as embarrassed as she thought possible. He heard muffled voices and then the shower started. Ten minutes later, Kushina exited the bedroom with wet hair, closing the door behind her.

"Oh, no," Naruto shook his head. "He doesn't get to just leave. That ship sailed."

"Naruto," Kushina started sternly. "It isn't any of your business who I take to bed. I'm not a nun and I don't answer to you," she scolded.

Naruto thought about it for a minute. '_I really DON'T want to know. What if it's somebody I know? I'd never be able to look them in the eye ever again. But if don't know who it is, I won't be able to look anyone in the eye without thinking that it could be them. Motherfucker... Wow. That is the most oddly fitting curse for this situation. Huh._' He looked at Kushina before responding. "Now I _have_ to know. Otherwise, I'm just going to assume it's someone _really_ inappropriate like Kakashi or Guy."

"Oh for…" she nearly cursed before calling, "Just come out, Hiashi."

Hiashi Hyuuga opened the bedroom door with quiet grace. He silently nodded to Naruto before turning to Kushina. "Rain-check?" he quietly asked her.

Kushina nodded, saying, "I'll talk to you later." Hiashi calmly walked out the door, closing it as he left.

"Did not see THAT…" Naruto muttered.

"I think I've been sufficiently embarrassed for one day," Kushina replied, moving into the kitchen. "I'll cook something. Tell me about your day."

"Well, I was going to say that I spent the day coordinating a genin team on yet another Capture Tora mission, but in light of recent revelations, I think I'll be more honest. Ebisu and I spent most of the day on the rooftops rating the women in the village while the genin searched for the cat," Naruto explained, needling Kushina.

Kushina tut-tutted as she started cooking. "You're as bad as Jiraiya-sensei," she frowned.

"There is a fundamental truth to the world that I've learned these past few years and you've just hammered home again: people fuck. Jiraiya is a little over the top, but everyone does it," he laughed. "Besides, do you have any idea how many kunoichi tried to seduce Jiraiya versus how many assassins came after him?"

Kushina froze in place as she connected the dots. Finally, she asked, "Is that why he acts like a sex-obsessed teenager?"

"Not really. He _is_ sex-obsessed," Naruto replied, hoping that the awkward conversation would end. "I ran into Shikamaru this morning."

"Oh?" Kushina prompted, glad for the change in subject.

"He was heading to Sand to help plan the next chunin exam," Naruto explained. "He told me you were trying to get him into ANBU."

"I've asked him once or twice," Kushina lied.

"Barring a war, he's smart to wait until he's older," Naruto replied. The sound of a key sliding into the lock put both Uzumakis on edge and paused the conversation, but it was only Itachi.

Itachi looked at the pair in the kitchen before settling into another kitchen chair. "How was today's test?" he asked Naruto.

"I took over a genin team for a 'Capture Tora' mission," Naruto rolled his eyes. "They caught the blasted thing."

"I'm happy for you. Have you had a chance to talk with Sasuke?" he asked, concerned.

"I haven't had much chance to talk to anyone. I was hoping Sasuke would be up for something tonight, but I haven't seen him," Naruto explained.

"Just be aware: he's got some idiosyncrasies," Itachi began delicately. "Orochimaru shattered him and we've done our best to help put the pieces back together, but he's not the same."

"Do you think those Akatsuki guys will come soon?" Naruto asked, trying to avoid the subject of Sasuke.

"Once word gets out that you're here, yes," Itachi confirmed. "I'm going to try again to break this seal in a few weeks, but I'd like to get a better idea of your skill with genjutsu in the meantime."

Naruto shrugged. "Sure. The Hokage said that I just have one more test tomorrow and then she'll know everything to have me back on the active roster."

"Do you know what you're doing tomorrow?" Kushina asked from the stove.

"I'll be at the hospital. Sakura's actually going to be testing me," Naruto replied with a smile.

Itachi shook his head while Kushina quietly laughed. Sakura would not have an easy day.

—Leaf Hospital, the next day—

"You don't even know the basic academy healing jutsu?" Sakura asked in shock.

"When we graduated, it wasn't a requirement!" Naruto protested. "How was I supposed to know? I've been gone for three years!"

Sakura glared at the blonde. "I'll teach it to you, but you've got to at least get some clones to read the new curriculum on healing jutsus," she admonished.

Naruto could tell that she'd kept up her physical training. The girl had toned muscles and she didn't seem to be ashamed of showing them off. Her shirt didn't quite cover the sleek abdominal muscles on her midriff. Her skirt left her toned legs in plain view as well. As always, she wore a sleeveless shirt, which exposed her sleek, toned arms.

'_Still a little flat-chested though,_' Naruto couldn't help thinking as he sized up his old teammate.

"Are you checking me out?" she asked angrily.

"Are you trying to shame me?" Naruto replied calmly.

"Umm…" she couldn't think of a response.

"Are you telling me that I should be ashamed of momentarily admiring your obvious physical beauty after three years away?" he pressed, knowing that she had no answer. Enjoying how flustered Sakura was becoming, he lowered his voice. "Or are you telling me that I should be more discrete about it?" he asked pointedly raising his eyebrows, the prankster in him taking over.

Sakura punched him hard enough for him to fly through the walls, but instead he turned into a cloud of smoke, leaving the wall undamaged. Sakura could hear Naruto's hysterical laughter outside the hospital.

"WHAT'S SO FUNNY, MORON?" screamed the enraged kunoichi, running out to confront the blonde.

"AHAHAHA… You… are so predictable… HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" he laughed, hunched over with tears in the corners of his eyes.

That only served to fuel Sakura's rage. She swung a hammer-fist into the laughing Naruto, but it was a shadow clone again. Sakura roared again, but Naruto simply laughed harder as he took her on a merry chase around the village, learning exactly how hard Sakura could hit as each clone dispelled.


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and probably never will.

A/N: I have been tinkering with the idea of using a beta reader. I'm thinking it couldn't hurt (PM me if you have a comment related to beta readers rather than leaving it in the reviews please). I hope this chapter feels fast-paced, but not rushed. Some of the characters are going to seem out of character, but that's mostly because they've lived different lives than canon at this point. If that's your beef then I've nothing for you.

In case it isn't obvious, henge (transformation jutsu) is a ninjutsu, not a genjutsu. All transformations are solid, even though a common fanfic trope is for them to be illusions and only Naruto's are solid. The actual weakness of henge is that it generally requires concentration to maintain.

Reviews are for feedback. You don't have to leave a review, but I appreciate all feedback, even most of the guest reviews.

**Chapter 17**

"Eagle, Dog, report," the ANBU Commander commanded expectantly.

"Fully recovered, Lady Fox," the man in the dog mask replied.

"Awaiting orders, Lady Fox," the woman in the eagle mask replied.

"Good. Report to the Hokage," the woman in the fox mask ordered. As the two disappeared, she whispered, "ANBU will miss you."

Eagle and Dog appeared in the Hokage's office in the traditional ANBU pose: on one knee with heads bowed. Tsunade looked up at the two additional ANBU in her office with a scowl. "Lady Fox didn't tell you anything, did she?"

The two shook their heads followed immediately by Tsunade shaking her head with a heavy sigh. "You're leaving ANBU for the regular shinobi forces. Kakashi, you'll be evaluating your team. Since Sasuke is on medical leave, the team will be short, but since you'll have two jonin-level shinobi, that shouldn't be a huge issue."

"Two?" Kakashi asked lazily after he removed his ANBU uniform, revealing the standard issue jonin suit and vest.

"Yes. Itachi evaluated Naruto's combat skill at jonin-level and Sakura is special jonin with medical ninjutsu. Ebisu suggested that Naruto had at least chunin-level leadership abilities. We were going to continue his evaluations, but something has come up," Tsunade explained.

Eagle had removed her ANBU uniform and replaced it with a standard blue jonin uniform as well. "Have I failed the ANBU corps, Lady Hokage?" she asked.

"No. But we need you in the normal forces. We'll reform Team Kurenai so that Kurenai can groom you to take over as a jonin and you can help Kiba and Shino get to the point where they can become jonin," Tsunade explained. "You'll be chunin for the time being, so dress accordingly. Go bring the rest of the team here. You already have a mission."

"Yes, Lady Hokage," Hinata responded, replacing the blue jonin suit with mesh armor and deep blue clothes.

"Team Kurenai is waiting at training ground ten. They've all mostly been on tracking and capture missions. They only know that you've been in ANBU for the last couple of years, so tell them whatever you want as long as it isn't classified," Tsunade explained, seemingly bored. Hinata nodded and quickly left.

Before Kakashi and Tsunade had a chance to continue their conversation, Naruto burst through the doors. "You ready to give up the hat yet, Aunty?" he beamed as he strolled next to Kakashi.

"Welcome back, Naruto," Kakashi smiled behind his mask. "How was your trip?"

"You know Jiraiya… Hookers and blackjack the whole time!" he joked with a giant thumbs up as Tsunade flinched.

'_I wouldn't put it past the old goat, but I watched his match with Itachi,_' she thought. "Team Kakashi, the ambassador from the Village Hidden in the Sand has requested assistance from us. There has been some sort of disaster—"

"Who else is going?" Naruto interrupted.

"I'LL GET TO THAT!" Tsunade roared. "There has been some sort of disaster and they requested medical assistance and trackers. Sakura is already gathering supplies and personnel from the hospital. Team Kurenai will be the tracking team. Kakashi will be in charge of the mission. Now, do you have any questions?"

"What happened in Sand?" Naruto asked.

"If we knew, I would have told you! Get moving!" Tsunade yelled angrily, throwing an empty sake bottle at the receding pair.

Naruto and Kakashi leapt across rooftops from the Hokage tower toward the hospital. "How soon do we need to be in Sand?" Naruto asked.

"As soon as possible," Kakashi responded. "It usually takes a day or two to get to Sand from here at top speed."

Naruto laughed, taking out one of his marked kunai. "Nah. I can get there MUCH faster. Here," he said, handing Kakashi the kunai. "Be somewhere private in thirty minutes. I'll be scouting Sand," he said with a wave before he disappeared.

'_This isn't one of those special kunai that Minato-sensei had, but it's got the same formula on the blade. Interesting,_' Kakashi thought as he made his way to the hospital.

—Five hundred meters outside the Village Hidden in the Sand—

'_I guess it was a good idea to leave this on the road instead of inside the village. Who knows if it would have survived whatever happened,_' Naruto thought standing next to one of his markers and watching the Sand-nin squads clearing bodies away from the outer walls of the desert city. He jogged, slowly and deliberately, to the nearest squad, waving his arms to get their attention.

"Who—" one of the Sand-nin started before the commander jumped down.

"Naruto! You got here fast!" the blonde woman shouted. "We barely sent the request to Leaf half an hour ago."

Naruto stopped at the fan-wielding woman's side. "Advanced scout. We're putting together a response, but I wanted to get as much information as possible. What happened?"

"Gaara was taken by some crazy terrorist with exploding clay. Most of the injuries are blasts, burns, and poison," Temari explained. "Kankuro was among the injured. I know we already owe you, but if you can help him…"

"I would have offered even if the Hokage hadn't sent me. Has Shikamaru arrived yet?" Naruto asked.

"Shika's coming?" she asked, expectantly.

'_Cutesy nickname. File that away for later,_' Naruto thought. "He was on his way to discuss the next chunin exam. I imagine the Kazekage would have been his first stop though, so if you haven't spotted him then he probably isn't here yet," he explained. "More important things, Temari. Which way did they go and how did they leave?"

"Ummm…" the flustered teen started before controlling herself. "They were flying on some giant clay bird and they went that way," she pointed away from the village.

"Goddamn fliers," Naruto cursed. "I'll be back with the teams soon: maybe an hour? If you can pass word along and send someone Sakura might know, it will help considerably."

"Sakura…" Temari wondered aloud. "Who is she?"

"Tsunade's apprentice, apparently. She'll be leading the medical support team. We're sending half a dozen of our best medic-nins along with a hefty supply load. Sakura is the team leader for the medics," Naruto guessed. "I'll be back with them shortly," he waved before disappearing.

'_Glad I left one in the apartment,_' Naruto thought as his space-time jutsu planted him in the living room. He didn't pay attention to what was actually happening on the couch as he ran out the window toward the Hokage Tower.

'_Good thing we were only watching TV,_' Itachi and Yugao thought as they watched Naruto suddenly appear and then speed out the window.

"This is NOT a good date, Itachi," the purple-haired woman coldly stated. "Get your own place before you ask me out again," she said, indignantly walking out of the apartment.

"Of course," Itachi calmly replied while inwardly cursing.

Naruto leapt through the window to the Hokage's office, interrupting her meeting with Team Kurenai. "Is this the tracking team?" he asked.

Tsunade sighed, thinking, '_Why can't he just use the door? People are supposed to use doors._' Tsunade turned to Naruto, saying, "Yes. This is the tracking team."

"Anyone able to track flying prey? Or able to fly, for that matter?" he asked.

"Shino or Kiba should be able to track them, but the trail will have gone cold by the time we get there," Kurenai answered.

Naruto looked like he ignored the answer, turning instead to Tsunade. "Do you have anyone who has a flying summon or something that you can spare?"

Tsunade thought for a moment, coming up with nothing, before bellowing, "Shizune! Find someone with some sort of flying summon!"

"Yes, Lady Hokage!" a shout came from beyond the door.

"Explanations, Naruto," Tsunade said, leveling a withering glare at the blonde teen.

"Went to Sand. Got a field report. Came back. Adjusting the team before we leave. Anything else?" he asked.

Kiba could no longer contain himself. "HOW THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT?" he screamed.

Naruto silently blinked at the outburst before responding. "Hiraishin," he said, expecting that to explain everything. Kurenai and Hinata gasped, while Shino remained statue-still, but Kiba looked confused.

"What does that even mean?" the animal trainer asked, exasperated.

Kurenai grabbed his shoulder and shook her head before whispering, "You'll find out later." She looked at Naruto for a reply as she trailed, "We leave for Sand…"

"Kakashi is assembling the medical team. They'll probably be staging at the hospital," he said as he pulled out a watch. "I have five minutes to get there. You have twenty to pack and meet us."

Kurenai and Hinata nodded before dragging the rest of the team out. Shizune returned with a personnel folder and a worried look.

"Well?" Tsunade asked, expectantly.

"We only have one person available who fits those criteria, but you're not going to like it…" Shizune hinted.

"If we only have one, we only have one. Spit it out, Shizune," Tsunade angrily intoned.

"His name is Sai and he used to be a member of ANBU before the dustup," Shizune explained.

"Great. One of _his_ men. And you're sure this is the only one?" Tsunade asked hopefully.

"Sai is the only one currently available who has any flight capabilities," Shizune nodded.

"Naruto, go meet with Kakashi and tell him about the addition of Sai. Tell Kakashi that Sai is the only one available and that you said it was important to have him," Tsunade instructed, hoping Naruto knew what he was doing.

"Got it," Naruto nodded before jumping back out of the window. Naruto sped along to the hospital, mentally reviewing the hand-signs for the jutsu. '_I hate jutsus with hand-signs. They take too long and I'm never sure if I got the signs right,_' he thought before arriving at the hospital.

"Kakashi said that you were coming with us to Sand," Sakura called out, catching Naruto just as he arrived.

"Yeah," he nervously replied. "I've got to talk to Kakashi real quick. Is everything going to be ready to leave in about fifteen minutes?"

Sakura looked shocked. "It'll take two days to get there! We still have to pack bags and personal stuff—"

"It's been taken care of," Naruto interrupted. "Just make sure that you have everything you need for the mission here in fifteen minutes." And with that, Naruto focused on the kunai he gave Kakashi, pouring his chakra into the Lightning Rod, also known as the Flying Thunder-God.

Kakashi was reading high up in a tree, having stabbed the kunai into a branch across from his perch. Naruto appeared before his watch could sting him with its silent alarm needle. Naruto looked around, realizing that he was in one of the large trees in front of the hospital and that the staging area was just in sight.

"Gaara was abducted by someone with a giant bird-thing so I asked the Hokage to add someone with a similar capability to the team. His name is Sai and he's the only person currently available," Naruto explained. "She was cursing about Sai being one of _his_ men, if that means something."

Kakashi nodded. "I take it you plan to use a space-time ninjutsu to transport us to Sand?" Kakashi tried to confirm.

"Yeah, but I don't usually use the technique on this scale, so I have to review my notes on the hand-signs. Don't worry: I probably won't send us into a dark void of nothingness for all eternity," he smiled, pulling out his notebook and reviewing the hand-signs.

"Maybe I should read you the hand-signs for the jutsu as you perform it, just to be safe," Kakashi tried to suggest without letting any abject terror into his voice.

Naruto thought for a moment before responding, "That's probably a good idea. I'll study the jutsu until everyone is ready." Naruto read his little notebook in a pose eerily similar to Kakashi reading his Make-out Tactics.

In what seemed like no time at all, Sakura called out, "NARUTO! KAKASHI! WE'RE READY! GET YOUR LAZY ASSES DOWN HERE!"

Naruto and Kakashi turned to see all of the medical staff present as well as Team Kurenai and an overly pale teenager wearing a tanto and the fakest smile anyone could imagine. The two spikey-haired ninja jumped down, the silver-haired one pocketing his treasured book and the blonde-haired one still deep into his treasured book.

"Everyone, please get together in a small bunch around the supplies," Naruto instructed as he handed the dog-eared book to Kakashi. "It starts on this page. There are fourteen signs."

"What's going on? We need to pick everything up and go if we want to make it to Sand soon," Sakura asked.

Kiba leaned over as he huddled in to the supplies and said, "Time-space jutsu. Naruto is going to teleport us there."

Sakura tilted her head at Kurenai who only nodded, prodding Sakura to mutter, "Someone could have told me earlier…"

Naruto stood in front of everyone, running through the signs for the jutsu. '_It's just like a summoning. No big deal. I've got this,_' Naruto thought to himself. "Okay, Kakashi. Read me the signs."

Kakashi read the signs slowly enough for Naruto to perform each one perfectly. When there was no puff of smoke or disorientation at the end, Kiba looked up and exclaimed, "Was that it?"

Kakashi turned and said, "Dry run," as if that should explain everything and the pair of spikey-haired ninja repeated the process, except for the massive summoning symbols that extended from the center of the group after Naruto slammed his hand to the ground, wrapping up and around them before the scenery suddenly changed to desert.

"Take a moment. That can be disorienting sometimes," Naruto explained as he jogged off, looking for Temari and the other Sand-nin.

"Oi! Temari! That Leaf kid is back!" one of the Sand-nin shouted as Naruto ran up the road. Temari stopped what she was doing and confirmed that Naruto was indeed jogging up the road. She looked out further from her perch on the sand-blown wall, noticing a group of ninja with large cases.

She jumped down to stop Naruto's jog saying, "Holy crap! I thought you were kidding about that hour!"

Naruto beamed a smile, responding, "Nope. I brought everyone. Get someone out here to help bring the supplies. We've got the tracking team and someone who can get us airborne, so we might be able to catch up to whoever took Gaara if we hurry."

Temari looked dumbfounded for a moment before she yelled orders at several of the genin cleaning up the area. Team Kurenai, Kakashi, and Sai quickly approached Naruto as the Sand genin began shuffling supplies under Sakura's watchful eye.

"Sai, how long will it take to get airborne?" Kakashi asked the strange, pale teen.

Sai pulled out a scroll and brush with ink, painting three birds and bringing the massive creatures to life before the assembled Leaf ninjas with a strange release of ninjutsu. "They are ready, Captain," the boy fake smiled.

"That's great Sai, but the tracking team hasn't got a lead yet. Just wait here while they do their thing," Kakashi gently explained. Sai kept his fake smile on while Shino and Kiba started searching, Kiba sniffing and Shino dispersing his insects. Temari had some of Gaara's things, which were seeped with his chakra and scent, brought out for reference.

After a few minutes, Shino spoke up. "I believe I have them," he explained from inside a light insect swarm.

"Sai, Kiba, and Shino: take the lead. Naruto and Kurenai: ride together. I'll ride with Hinata," Kakashi ordered as everyone reacted quickly.

The three ink birds were airborne and flying with Shino pointing them in the direction of the chakra trail. A giant, flying, clay bird animated by chakra wasn't exactly difficult for Shino to follow, even a few hours later.

Hinata simply looked forward, the veins near her eyes exposed showing her byakugan active. Kakashi kept on the lookout, but asked, "Are you going to tell him?"

"That when we were children, I had a massive crush on him? I think not," Hinata responded calmly.

"You should. Nobody lives forever," Kakashi advised.

"I've grown up since then. I don't stammer. I was in ANBU. I've assassinated people. I've seduced men and women for information and blackmail. I'm not the same shy little girl," Hinata coldly replied. "I'm a kunoichi."

"You still cry after you kill someone," Kakashi quietly observed. '_And sometimes after you've seduced them,_' he thought, knowing that kunoichi often had harsh seduction missions that men simply couldn't perform. "You aren't as cold as you pretend."

"Shut up, Kakashi," Hinata quietly replied, desperately trying not to cry at the things Kakashi had forced her to remember. '_I wish I had my ANBU mask,_' she thought, watching Naruto talk to Kurenai.

"Who is he?" Naruto asked.

"What?" Kurenai was startled.

"I keep better track of things than people think," Naruto began. "Hinata has been in ANBU for more than two years. Your team wasn't reformed to track, since all of them could probably do that without you. This is something else. Most probably, you are considering retirement. Kiba and Shino could be trained by any jonin to take the jonin exam, which only leaves Hinata. It makes sense. Both of you are kunoichi. You are probably training her to replace you in the ranks of the jonin and it seems a bit rushed, which means you plan on retiring."

Kurenai looked at the blonde, slightly flustered. "And that means that a man must be involved?" she questioned.

"Not necessarily. But you're wearing some knick-knacks that aren't entirely your style, which indicates a relationship or admirer. You flush slightly when exposed to the scent of male sweat, which indicates that you are heterosexual. My top guesses are Ebisu, Genma, and Asuma, by the way," Naruto finished.

"It's Asuma," Kurenai replied, too bewildered to keep it quiet. "How did you figure all that out?"

Naruto chuckled before responding, "A shinobi must be observant and look underneath the underneath. Also, I spent decades learning about people."

"You were only gone for three years," Kurenai casually retorted.

"Shadow clones, sustained transformations, and tampering with records got me into twelve undergraduate programs, three doctoral programs, and two research fellowships," Naruto boasted with a smile. "I insisted on some long-term infiltration practice."

Kurenai just stared at the over-educated sixteen year-old. "I'm almost afraid to ask…"

"Jiraiya didn't let me finish any of the programs though. He said I had other things to work on," he lamented before realizing that the birds had changed their flight. Naruto's demeanor went from casual to tense instantly. "It looks like we might be close; we're descending."


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: Still don't own Naruto.

A/N: This chapter was rough, both to write and conceptualize; not that I'm making excuses. It isn't a happy chapter and I hope that it's at least intense and entertaining since it can't be happy. Anyway, this is a short chapter, because it's dark and it needs to be done, so I'm making it as fast as possible. I was tempted to hold this until I finish the next chapter just so that I wouldn't leave the story hanging on a dark note, but I'd rather get this out.

I could write faster if I had a reliable betareader… Just sayin. Leave feedback in the reviews, please.

**Chapter 18**

"Deidara of the bomb," Kakashi rasped. "His explosions are earth chakra based, but be careful: he might have new tricks."

An explosion rocked the fleeing ink birds as Naruto and Kakashi stood together, facing the cloak-wearing man, kunai already strewn everywhere. "You both jumped into the belly of the beast, yeah?" the longhaired blonde smirked.

"Lightning beats earth," Naruto intoned as his hands flashed through signs.

'_Naruto doesn't use hand signs for his jutsus. Those are signs for lightning jutsu. That sequence looks like my Chidori. No, that's closer to the Raikiri! But those first few weren't right,_' Kakashi rapidly thought, his sharingan already exposed. '_That isn't my Lightning Cutter…_'

A ball of light blue lightning chakra began to swirl in Naruto's hand. The glowing ball seemed to pulse in Naruto's hand. But Kakashi could see that the lighting chakra of his own Lightning Cutter swirled faster than the plain chakra or wind chakra of Naruto's other rasengan, creating a barely-controlled lightshow.

"Rasen-raikiri." The ball of lightning seemed to teleport from Naruto's hand before the air cracked and smelt of ozone just to the side of Deidara. Tendrils of lightning lashed out; each cracking and chirping with lightning and sparks. Several dozen yards were enveloped in the bright, barely blue light as the jutsu released its stored energy.

Deidara jumped away from the burst, but could feel the tingle of shock running through his entire body. The clay clone he'd left behind to take the brunt of the attack simply disfigured into uselessness. Deidara's hands sped through several signs of his own, but as they clasped in the last one nothing happened.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" the enraged bomb-maker shouted, landing not far away from the spikey-haired duo.

Naruto smiled. "I told you: lightning beats earth. If you don't have anything other than that clay, I suggest you surrender. It can't detonate."

'_Lord Pain was right! Itachi told the Leaf EVERYTHING about us!_' Deidara thought. '_Let's see how they like this new lightning clay. Heh heh heh._'

Deidara reached behind his back, into a third pouch and began molding the strange green-hued clay. "Let's see how you like this piece of art, yeah?"

Kakashi sped behind Deidara, but was only able to watch a handful of clay birds streak toward him as the lightning in the air sparked and detonated this new clay. Kakashi flew back from the force of the blast, spinning in the air, and only able to right himself, landing against one of the few trees in the area just before he would have smashed into it.

'_They guessed that Itachi told us everything he knew. Of course, there will be surprises. Dammit,_' Naruto thought, cursing himself. He knew that the field of lightning he'd set up to disrupt Deidara's bombs would impair the bomb-maker, but he hadn't known that Deidara now had bombs that could explode with lightning instead of earth chakra.

"Naruto! Stall him!" Kakashi shouted at his former student, vanishing into a camouflage jutsu.

Naruto lit his nerves and muscles with lightning chakra to enhance his speed and reactions before charging into the longhaired blonde. Every strike of Naruto's hit with a sickening thud and crunch, but none seemed to affect Deidara until Naruto hit the man in his chest with a mule-kick. That final crunch sounded less like bones breaking and more like glass shattering and Naruto disappeared from the man on instinct, instantly reappearing at one of the marked kunai that littered the area.

The clay clone erupted in a devastating blast of heat and shockwaves, leveling the ground for several yards. Naruto searched for either Kakashi or the mad bomber as the blast wave settled, but couldn't spot Kakashi.

"Kamui." Kakashi's sharingan showed a strange, three-pronged shape instead of the wheel with three tomoe as the bag on Deidara's back was sucked into nothingness just before a kunai sank into Deidara's back where the bag was only moments before.

'_Damn it! My lightning clay is gone and the area is saturated with lightning chakra. Where is that fool Tobi?_' Deidara thought, bleeding and unsteady on his feet. '_I need to get the hell outta here!_'

"Where is your companion? What did you do with Gaara?" Naruto asked, waiting for confirmation.

Deidara ripped open his shirt, exposing an open mouth on his chest. "As if I'd tell you anything," he spat. '_I wanted to use this on Itachi, but I don't have any other options. My regular clay can't detonate in this static field and that bastard copy-nin took my lightning clay somehow,_' he thought, pulling the stitches out of his chest.

Naruto pumped lightning chakra through his limbs again to strike at the mad bomber before the man could complete whatever ultimate jutsu he was attempting. Naruto's fist struck the man in the face with a sickening crack, lifting him off his feet, and sending him flying. Deidara limply sailed several yards before landing in a slumped pile.

Kakashi appeared in a shimmer, his jutsu cancelled. "Kakashi-sensei, I'll tie him up while you catch up to the tracking team," Naruto commanded. Kakashi nodded in response and disappeared in a swirl of leaves in the direction of the ink birds.

Naruto pulled out ninja wire and began to truss up his catch. "Hey!" one of the Sand ninja called to Naruto, interrupting him.

"Hey," Naruto turned to the group.

"We're here to back you up," the eldest of the three explained. "But I see you have everything under control here."

Naruto looked to his recently downed prey before responding, "Yeah. We got lucky."

As Naruto turned back to the new arrivals, Deidara's hands, filled with all of his remaining clay, shot from his pouches into the strange mouth on his chest. "NOW YOU'LL SEE MY ULTIMATE MASTERPIECE!" the mad bomber screamed, his body already burning out like a fuse.

Lightning chakra already coursed through Naruto's eyes, causing the world to move in slow motion. He could see the buildup of energy, not because of any special properties of his eyes, but because the man's body was visibly converting chakra and flesh into an immense and unavoidable explosion. Naruto charged his body with lightning chakra and streaked for the newly arrived Sand ninja, hoping to grab them before the blast could disintegrate them all.

The Sand-nins could only see the fuse-like body of Deidara beginning to explode before the blonde Leaf-nin tackled them and they were suddenly five hundred yards outside of their own village falling to the ground. They barely had a chance to hit the ground before a gargantuan rumble shook the ground and a massive plume several miles in the distance shone like a second sun.

Naruto activated his hiraishin to get to Kakashi, hoping that Kakashi had gotten clear of the blast. He was rewarded with a massive wave of energy blowing him off his feet when he arrived at the marked kunai. Naruto tumbled with Kakashi for several dozen yards before the two managed to right themselves in a display of acrobatic athleticism.

Both men stood braced against the wave for several long seconds before it finally died down. Naruto spoke first. "That guy was a blast," he commented flatly, slightly out of breath from using so much chakra.

Kakashi looked at Naruto. "That wasn't even remotely funny," Kakashi responded humorlessly.

Naruto just gave an amused smirk and turned in the direction of the tracking team. "It'll probably be better if you caught up to the team while I grab that stupid jonin who distracted me."

"You didn't finish tying up the bomb guy?" Kakashi asked incredulously.

Naruto sheepishly responded, "They caught my attention before I finished. I had to either accept a potential back-stab from an unknown or hope that the guy I knocked out stayed out."

Kakashi made a face behind his mask that Naruto recognized as a frown, but said, "No helping it then," as he turned toward the tracking team. "Catch up with that Sand jonin."

Naruto nodded before dusting himself off and disappearing to reach the Sand team he'd just moved to safety.

—With Kakashi—

Kakashi ran through the sparse vegetation at his top travel speed, which was damn fast. Three years of operations and training under Kushina Uzumaki had forced him into the best shape of his life. His stamina and chakra reserves were so large that he could use his Raikiri nine times in a day and using the Mangekyo Sharingan didn't put him into a two-week coma.

Kakashi ran past a spot that was covered in ink spatter, spotting the tracking team behind the cover of some of the thicker trees in the bare area. '_I don't know why more Hyuuga don't go into ANBU. Hinata was a flawless assassin. The Gentle Fist is almost untraceable,_' he couldn't help thinking as he approached the tracking specialists. "Yo," he waved a two-fingered salute at the bunch.

"What the hell was that?" Kiba demanded as Akamaru barked.

Kakashi ignored him and turned to Hinata and Kurenai. "Report," he stated professionally.

Hinata looked to Kurenai, who simply stood clutching her belly. "The blast wave dispelled the ink birds. Kurenai-sensei thought she might be pregnant before the mission, but hadn't gotten tested yet, and is concerned that the effects of the blast may cause a miscarriage," Hinata quickly rattled. "No casualties and only minor injuries, but the mission is a failure. Deidara doubled back and the other trails dead-end here."

—With Naruto—

"How long have you been a jonin?" Naruto asked angrily.

"I made jonin this year," the man in the traditional Sand turban and vest smugly replied.

"And you didn't think to let me finish binding him before calling out or approaching?" he questioned the man.

"It looked like you had it under control," the man tried to defend.

"You two," he pointed at the two other ninjas. "You're staying here. You," he grabbed the jonin's arm, "are coming with me," he ground out as he activated the hiraishin to take him to Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei, Kurenai-sensei: what's the situation?" Naruto asked as the scenery changed from desert to scrub and the Sand-nin turned to lose his lunch again.

Kurenai looked over at the hurling jonin before responding, "No casualties, only minor injuries, but we've lost the trail. The explosion wiped the area clean, but before that, we found the end of the trail. Kiba reported the smell of a dimensional shift, which indicates a time-space jutsu user," she repeated, adding, "He never would have known that smell if it hadn't been for you, Naruto."

'_He's gone then. After everything… After Jiraiya and I gave him a new seal… After all of our conversations… All of our plans…_' Naruto thought.

Naruto nodded in response, taking the information in. He turned to the Sand-nin, wondering what Temari had been thinking sending a team after them. '_She must not have had a choice. It smells too much like politics to be actual support. This guy is good enough to catch us, but not smart enough to let me finish binding a prisoner,_' he angrily thought, before calming himself. '_Then again, everyone makes mistakes._'

"Anyone know a light-show type jutsu?" Naruto asked redundantly as Kakashi nodded.

Kakashi smiled behind his mask, saying, "I've got plenty."

The Sand-nin was confused, but Naruto responded, "Get to where the trail ends, then send up as big a flare as you can manage every ten minutes until Sand arrives. Keep the area as clear as possible, just in case any of the Sand techs can figure anything out from residue or something."

Naruto sighed heavily, dreading what he now had to do. "I'll go report that the mission failed and Gaara is lost, presumed dead."

"Naruto, you don't have to do this. Kurenai can deliver the news," Hinata interjected, concerned.

"No. If I plan to become a leader, I'll have to deliver bad news. I owe it to Gaara to tell his family, personally. We were friends, when we met again, after the incident in the arena," Naruto resolved.

He appeared again outside of the Village Hidden in the Sand, but made the journey from the entrance gates to the council building where he knew Temari would be busily working at a walk.

Temari looked at him and read the emotions on his face. She dropped the papers she had in her hands. An older man in councilor's robes with half his face covered from the cloth draping from his turban opened the door behind Naruto. Naruto maintained eye contact with Temari before explaining, "We weren't able to catch them. Akatsuki has a time-space jutsu user. The trail went dead."

Temari looked at him still in disbelief, her fears violently intruding on her self-control. She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. Her form hunched over the desk, barely remaining upright. "Gaara…" she barely managed to croak.

"We didn't find a body…" Naruto tried to sound hopeful, but it was clear that he wasn't.

"He's dead. Isn't he?" Temari looked up at him, the hope in her eyes slowly fading.

"We didn't find a body," Naruto responded lamely.

The councilman closed the doors, keeping his back to the young kunoichi. "I have news from the hospital," the man intoned, still facing away as he looked down. "Kankuro is going to make a full recovery, thanks to Tsunade's apprentice."

Temari looked at the two men in her now dead baby-brother's office. "I— I… What do I do?" she pleaded.

Naruto held her shoulders, looking into her eyes. He could see the sadness and despair building. "You hold together. There will be plenty of time to fall apart later. People need you. Your brother needs you. Your village needs you. Your home needs you," he finished with conviction and fire that he hoped would inspire the young woman.

"Hold together. I don't know if I can…" she responded pitifully.

She was shocked when she felt a sting on her face as Naruto slapped her. "You don't have a choice. There isn't anyone else," Naruto said harshly. "Now pick yourself up and stop making Gaara ashamed to call you 'family.'"

Temari picked herself up, wiping her eyes. She took several choked breaths before she finally steadied and looked at Naruto. "They took my baby brother, Naruto. They tried to kill us all, but they TOOK him," she emphasized. "If my brother is alive, bring him back. If he isn't, bring me their heads." She walked out, making her way to the hospital, leaving Naruto and the councilman alone.

Naruto looked at the older jonin. "You have to hold together too. I know that you've gone into administration since the last time I was here, but you can't let all of the paperwork leave you weak," Naruto vainly tried to needle.

"The last time you were here was a much happier time, Naruto," the man spoke, still facing away from Naruto.

"The last time I was here, Baki, we took Gaara to that brothel with Kankuro and Jiraiya to celebrate his confirmation as Kazekage," Naruto responded with a sad smile. "That was only six months ago."

"A happier time…" the man trailed before leaving, a stoic expression once again on his face as he left.

"You have to hold yourself together," Naruto whispered alone in the Kazekage's office.

**A/N: Breaking my "one author's note only" rule just to say that Gaara dies so that I can write about Yugito Nii without compromising the story. Plus, it creates some tensions between the Leaf and the Sand that I'd like to explore more than retreading the Cloud/Leaf tensions in canon. I really like Gaara in general and would love to write something involving him when I finish this story, but I'm not going to do flashbacks. Flashbacks in literature are called "prequels."**


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: Still don't own Naruto.

A/N: Yugito won't show up for a while yet. I'm still trying to determine her canon personality and how far she'll deviate from that (and for what reasons). While this isn't a harem story, it isn't an "everyone meets their soul mate when they are ten" story either. As with life, most characters won't get it right on the first try, so declaring pairings up front will ruin the story, in my opinion.

This chapter is mostly domestic comedy and some plot revelations. I'm looking for a betareader, if anyone is interested (my hope is to update faster, if that motivates anyone). Anyway, enjoy the chapter and leave feedback about what you think in the reviews.

**Chapter 19**

"BREAK TH**E SEAL!**" Naruto growled as glowing red-orange chakra leaked from tenketsu all over his body, covering him like a cloak. A single tail began to form behind the blonde, his form already taking on feral teeth, claws, and red eyes.

Itachi stood in the center of a large array of kanji, deep underground. He wore only shorts while paint covered his bare torso in patterns and kanji that he knew he'd regret later. The seal in his mouth slowly began to wrap around him as he attempted to overpower it. He knew that he didn't have enough chakra to do it, but that was part of the plan.

A woman's voice called out, "He's almost out of chakra and the seal is barely weakened!"

'_Holy shit, this going to hurt…_' Itachi thought.

—10 days earlier—

"Naruto, get up!" Kushina yelled through the door to a bedroom. The apartment she'd lived in with just Naruto was long since gone, replaced with the four room apartment shared by Naruto, Sasuke, Itachi, and Kushina. She knew enough not to intrude on a teenage boy in the morning, but Naruto had been drowning in sorrow since the failed mission to Sand. "Itachi? Would you—"

"No," he interrupted. "Not after last time you asked when I walked in on Sasuke and The Perverted Pink Howler-monkey. No way. Not again," he said adamantly. "That scene haunts my dreams," he muttered with a shudder.

"Hey!" Sakura retorted from the kitchen, noticing the older Uchiha shudder.

"If you didn't want me to call you a Perverted Pink Howler-monkey, you shouldn't have let me catch you fucking my baby brother like one," Itachi coldly commented to the girl, going back to the little, orange book Kakashi had lent him.

Sasuke shrugged. His eyes had burned out again, so he was sitting on the couch with gauze around his eyes. '_I don't remember having sex with Sakura,_' he thought. '_Was I asleep? Did she rape me? Or drug me? Or drug me and rape me? Is she pregnant? I'm not ready to be a father! GAH! I can't think! I want my eyes back! Why can't I remember anything without my eyes?_'

Sakura could see Sasuke facing in her direction with suspicion plastered on his face. '_He's having memory problems again,_' she thought. "I'm just here to check on you. I know how disoriented you get after you burn out your eyes," she explained, the pain in her voice obvious to Sasuke's heightened sense of hearing. "I'm not trying to get back together."

Sasuke ignored the forlorn girl and let his senses reach out into Naruto's room. Naruto wasn't alone, but the barely clothed kunoichi was already scampering out the window, pulling on clothes as she leapt. "He's alone. You can go in," Sasuke said, facing Kushina and wondering if he could get enough pain medication knock himself out.

Kushina slowly opened the door, keeping her eyes to one corner. She silently cursed at Naruto for not obeying the rule he'd explained to her. "You're supposed to put something on the door when you have a 'guest,'" she commented, jokingly.

"Sorry," he mumbled, pulling on shorts under the covers. "I forgot."

"It's been a week. Are you going to do something productive?" she asked.

Naruto sighed. "I guess. I don't have much choice anyway, do I? I have to go before the jonin council today one way or another."

"The Hokage can't promote certain people to jonin without a vote from the jonin council. It's one of the three things that requires a vote. Don't you want to be a jonin?" Kushina asked, closing the door behind her and looking out the open window.

'_I've been moping for too long. I don't know how Tsunade did this for years. It's high time I get off my ass and get working. The world isn't going to save itself, dattebayo! Stupid tic,_' he resolved. '_Let's see how much I can rile mo— Kushina-sensei…_'

"Does it matter? Akatsuki doesn't care what rank I am and Itachi still can't break that stupid seal. Sasuke is has the memory of an Alzheimer's patient every time he burns out his eyes. We're all doomed anyway," he lamented with as much melodrama as he could muster, turning to sit on the bed with his head in his hands and his feet on the floor.

"Naruto Uzumaki! You stop that defeatist attitude this instant!" Kushina furiously scolded. "You've never given up before and I'll be damned if you're going to start now!"

"I know," Naruto replied with a smile. "I figured that I've been sitting here long enough anyway, but it took you long enough to try to kick me out of it." As Kushina's face started to scrunch up in annoyance, he reached under the covers. "By the way, how much do you figure Jiraiya would pay," he started as he removed his hand, "for these slightly used panties?" he asked as he held up a tiny thong.

"NARUTO!" Kushina yelled loud enough for Ino to hear it from several blocks away as she hopped across rooftops. '_Did I get him in trouble?_' Ino thought. '_I feel like I forgot something important…_'

—Hokage Tower, later that day—

"Congratulations, Naruto," Hinata bowed. She wasn't part of the jonin council yet mostly because her work in ANBU had never required the official rank. It wasn't as if it was difficult to become a jonin, but Naruto had special circumstances. He was closely related to several key figures within the village, so the jonin council had to vote on his ability in order to avoid the perception of favoritism on the part of the Hokage.

"Thanks Hinata!" Naruto smiled, finally feeling back to his old self.

"Naruto…" Shikamaru trailed from a shadow. "I need your help…"

"I think I might need your help too, actually. I did something pretty stupid," Naruto admitted. "Why don't we all get some lunch?"

Shikamaru turned, his face gloomy. "We can eat at my place," the normally lazy teen turned and leapt over rooftops.

'_Shikamaru is travelling like a ninja. On purpose. Outside of a mission. Shit…_' Naruto couldn't help thinking as he followed with Hinata in tow.

"Naruto, I wanted to ask you something," Hinata said as they followed Shikamaru, still slightly flustered. '_Stupid crush. Why can't I treat this like a normal seduction mission?_' she scolded herself.

"You've heard the rumors about me and a few of the kunoichi our age, I suppose," Naruto sighed. If Itachi hadn't described, in eye-melting detail, what he'd caught Sakura doing with Sasuke, he was sure she would have been the one to admonish him for being a "pervert."

Hinata blushed slightly recalling the rumor Anko had told her. '_That woman really has no shame,_' Hinata thought. '_And what she suggested he does with shadow clones…_' Hinata mumbled, "I've heard rumors, but they seem a little… well… obscene."

Naruto looked a little disappointed. "Oh. I see. You don't approve," he replied.

Hinata balked. She'd actually done dirtier things than most of the rumors with the exception of Anko's. She shook her head. "No! I just wondered if any of them were true," she squeaked more than said.

"I'm not the type of person who would reveal private moments, Hinata. I'm sorry if you were looking to get gossip straight from the source," he answered sternly.

"What? No! T…that… I… it… w…wasn't—" she stammered.

Naruto let out a good-natured laugh as they arrived at Shikamaru's house. "I'm just messing with you, Hinata. You're really close to my mother. She wrote me while I was gone. Did you know that?"

Hinata shook her head in real surprise and confusion at where the conversation had gone.

"She wanted a daughter. Not instead of me, but along with me. My father was excited about having a son, but my mother wanted a larger family than just a single child. They never discussed it before he died, but Kushina-sensei was planning to have four kids. You probably didn't know that either. Anyway, she looks at you like a daughter and she told me so much about you while I was gone that I sort of think of you as a sister. I know we aren't really that close, but it feels like I know you from all of the letters," Naruto explained.

'_…I'm like his sister. I guess I know how Kiba feels when he whines about being "friend-zoned" now,_' Hinata lamented internally. "I… didn't know. I think that I need to find Kushina-sensei. Do you think that Shikamaru wanted me along?" Hinata asked.

"I'm not sure, but whatever it is I'm sure I can handle it. Go find Kushina-sensei," Naruto replied as he knocked on the door.

Shikamaru opened the door, looked around, and then motioned for Naruto to enter. The house was an older style with a large forest behind it. The inside was a combination of modern furniture and antique family heirlooms. The kitchen was completely modern, rather than the pre-industrial style of some of the antiques.

Someone was at the round kitchen table wearing a long cloak with a hood that covered the person's face and head. Naruto smelled desert, but Shikamaru had just come from a diplomatic mission to Sand. Pieces began to fall into place as Naruto scrutinized the figure in the Nara kitchen.

"Oh, shit. Please tell me that Temari isn't in your kitchen," Naruto said, his face blanching visibly.

"That's pretty close to what my mother said," Shikamaru answered. Naruto noticed that Shikamaru hadn't denied it.

"What the hell, Temari?" the newly minted jonin asked, barely above a whisper.

Temari pulled the hood down. She no longer wore a forehead protector. Her eyes were bloodshot and had bags under them. "I couldn't stay there," she intoned. "I followed Shikamaru when he left and snuck into his house last night."

"This is going to cause an international incident. This is a shit-storm waiting to break. Baki is going to be pissed. And your council! Holy shit, they are going to go nuts. And what about Kankuro? Is he just going to sit on his ass while you disappear? This has to be the dumbest idea any ninja has had in at least the last ten years," Naruto paced as he listed everything without taking a breath.

"Kankuro and Baki know that I left. But Shikamaru didn't know I—" Temari tried explaining while Shikamaru let a sliver of guilt show on his face before getting himself under control. Temari stopped her explanation as anger slowly built. "You knew I was following you?" she accused.

Shikamaru looked away while replying, "I know what you smell like. I thought you were just shadowing us out of the Land of Wind, but then you followed all the way here. By the time we arrived, it was night and I couldn't let you sleep in the cold."

"You… MAN!" she accused in mock anger as she hugged Shikamaru. '_I will never understand women. I know this with absolute certainty. I have no idea what the hell just happened. Is she mad at him? Why is she hugging him? Fuck it. I have no idea what's going on here,_' Naruto thought as he watched.

"Okay. So Baki and Kankuro know you're here. Will they be able to cover for your disappearance with Sand?" Naruto asked, hoping to break up the foreign scene in the Nara kitchen.

Temari nodded returning to her chair while Shikamaru leaned against a counter.

"Great. So you just avoid being a ninja and everything will be fine," Naruto commented as he realized that they wouldn't need his help if that was their plan. "Fuck. You have something else in mind, don't you?"

Temari nodded again. "I don't want to just retire. I was thinking that I might take up teaching and maybe Shikamaru and I could get closer. Besides, it's not like I have the skills to open a shop or something. "

Naruto let out a string of expletives that would make Anko blush before sighing. "As if I didn't have enough on my plate already…" Naruto finished.

"So you won't help then?" Shikamaru asked, slightly dejected.

"No. Of course, I'll help you. We're still friends and Temari is like a sister. But let me tell you everything else that I have to worry about because you are helping me with at least some of it," Naruto replied with a smile.

—An hour later—

"A group of S-ranked missing-nins are harvesting the bijuu, one of which you carry. You are trying to expose a secret organization in the Leaf run by Danzo Shimura. Rock wants you dead because of your father. Jiraiya pimped you out to some minor matriarchal village. You want to become Hokage and save the world from war and hate. Is that an accurate summary?" Shikamaru asked.

"You left out preventing an international incident caused by a high-ranking Sand-nin defecting to the Leaf, fixing whatever's wrong with Sasuke, and altering the Caged Bird Seal so that it doesn't come with a kill-switch," Naruto responded.

"I'm never going to get to watch the clouds ever again, am I?" Shikamaru sighed, his head lightly slamming into his arms against the counter.

"I don't fight the battles that I know I can win; I fight the battles that need fighting. I'm not going to give up because the odds appear against me," Naruto said with determination. "Nobody ever changed the world by giving up before even starting."

Shikamaru shook his head, but understood the sentiment. Temari whispered something in the despondent teen's ear, causing him to shift uncomfortably and blush slightly. "Let's get these done then," Shikamaru announced with uncharacteristic determination as he took a seat at the table.

"Itachi seems like the key to Root. You need to learn about chakra transfer so that you can help him break his seal. Your mother can inform that minor village that Jiraiya had no authority to arrange a marriage or whatever. You've spent years thinking about Akatsuki, so I doubt I can add anything in a few minutes. I have a solution to Temari living here, but I'm not sure either of us is really ready for it," Shikamaru listed.

"I'm not a fuinjutsu expert, but between you and Jiraiya, I'm sure you can come up with something to fix the Caged Bird Seal. You're going to need the Yamanaka clan to help with Sasuke, but that might be premature with several of those other things hanging over you," he continued thoughtfully.

Naruto was amazed at how quickly Shikamaru came up with solutions after Temari whispered something. He almost asked before realizing that he didn't want to know how she did it. "We might be able to convince Sand to do a teacher exchange program," Naruto added thoughtfully. "We send Iruka-sensei to Sand to teach and Temari stays here. What do you think?"

"That might work for the short term," Shikamaru replied. "It kicks the problem down the road, I suppose."

"It's better than trying to work out some kind of marriage deal," he said knowingly. "I'm not sure that the Nara clan has enough prestige to keep the Sand elders from kicking up a major fuss, but I'm also not an expert in the inner workings there. Temari?" Naruto turned to the road-weary blonde girl.

"Lazy-ass is right about us not being ready to get married. I like him and he certainly seems to like me, but marriage is a huge deal and we're not even twenty," she finally opined. "But you're right about the Nara clan not being a big enough clan for the elders. Even if we did get married, I'm pretty sure that the elders would make a fuss about insisting we stay in Sand."

"Well… if it came down to it, I could roll you into the Uzumaki clan. My mother is the clan head," Naruto suggested hesitantly.

Temari widened her eyes. "You're one of THOSE Uzumakis?" Naruto nodded. "Does anyone else know?"

"Not outside of the Leaf village," he replied sullenly.

Shikamaru frowned. "What do you mean, 'THOSE Uzumakis'?"

Temari began to lecture: "Before the Second Great Ninja War, there was a Village Hidden in the Whirling Tides. The Uzumaki clan was the most famous clan of the village and they were widely feared throughout the five nations, as much as the Senju or Uchiha. But Rock and Cloud sent an annihilation force to Whirlpool toward the end of the Second Great Ninja War, seemingly obliterating the Uzumaki clan and the ninjas of the Land of Whirlpools. No ninjas were supposed to have survived," Temari explained.

"Why was this not taught at the Academy?" Shikamaru asked, frustrated at not knowing something.

"I would guess because the surviving ninja from Tides were mostly in the Leaf and they didn't want what happened to the Whirlpool happening to the Leaf. Disappearing into the Leaf was safer than trying to seek attention as the best seal-masters in the nations," Naruto supposed.

"Honestly, the only reason I know is that my mother was born in the Land of Whirlpools, in the Village Hidden in the Whirling Tides. She didn't move to the Leaf until she was old enough to go to the Academy. By the time Whirlpool was annihilated, nobody knew that my mother was the grandniece of Mito Uzumaki, widow of the First Hokage."

Shikamaru smiled. "You already knew that you could solve my problem and used it to get me to help you with your other problems, didn't you?"

Naruto let out a nervous laugh, "I guess you caught me, even though that's a last resort. But you know that I can't do all of that other stuff alone and my mother has been trying to get you into the fold for over a year."

'_So THAT'S why Lady Kushina has been trying to get me into ANBU!_' the lazy boy thought. "I'll tell Kushina that I'm joining ANBU," Shikamaru said with a resigned sigh. "I'll need the extra training."

Naruto shook his head. "It's too late to join ANBU. Akatsuki has already started moving," he glanced sadly at Temari. "I don't mean that you can't help or that you shouldn't improve yourself, but joining ANBU is no longer a viable option because it would sideline you for a year." Realizing that Shikamaru didn't know that ANBU training was no longer six months, he explained, "ANBU's training program got a severe boost when Kushina-sensei took over. We're getting off track though."

"Let's see if the teacher exchange will play before we get to any marriage proposals. I think that we can all agree that the Uzumaki clan would stand a better chance of succeeding than the Nara clan on that front and if we try more than one clan doing the same thing, it'll anger the Sand elders," Shikamaru summarized. "We'll talk with Kushina about getting me into a harder training regimen and you'll work on chakra transfers. Maybe the Toads can help."

"Let's go see the Hokage and sort some of this out then," Naruto said, standing.

—A darkened room in the Village Hidden in the Rain—

"Zetsu, report your findings on the kyuubi jinchuuriki," a man with spikey blonde hair, eyes that contained several concentric circles, and metal rods piercing his face ordered.

A half-black, half-white man with a fly-trap for a collar nearly hissed, "He forced Deidara to self-destruct. Deidara did not prepare as you suggested. The idiot created a variation of his clay that would detonate with lightning chakra, but that was all. The jinchuuriki used space-time ninjutsu as well as S-ranked lightning jutsu and his control and integration of the ninjutsu into fighting appeared seamless.

"I recommend Tobi and Lord Pain team up to capture him while Kisame and Kakuzu screen and isolate him from his allies. Itachi told the Leaf everything he knew, but Sasori and Deidara were still able to infiltrate Sand, so they may not have passed along their information to the other villages. We should still assume the worst as we go after the rest of the bijuu," the strange man finished.

"You are certain that the kyuubi is that dangerous?" the man with strange eyes asked, but was met with only a stoic face and a slight nod from the plant-man.

"Very well," he resolved. "We shall capture the other bijuu as quickly as possible before… Someone is trying to infiltrate this place."

"Lord Pain?" Zetsu questioned.

"I will deal with the threat. Relay our conversation to Tobi and the others. Capture the other bijuu quickly," the man said as he and five others with the same eyes and metal piercings moved down the building interior.


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: Still don't own Naruto. Wish I did though…

A/N: I hope I didn't mess up this chapter. It has been difficult to get right and I have revised it at least half a dozen times. But let's publish it anyway because it's been two weeks and I meant to put it out last week. It's not like sitting on it any longer is going to magically make it better.

Feedback in the reviews, please.

**Chapter 20**

"You probably aren't going to like this, Aunt Tsunade," Naruto said woefully, examining the scroll in front of the Hokage's desk. "We worked out the kinks in this seal about a month ago but I never thought that he'd use it so soon."

"What is it?" a toad with a white goatee and plenty of wrinkles asked.

"Tell me how he died first," Naruto responded.

"He was in the Village Hidden in the Rain, attempting to infiltrate Akatsuki headquarters. He was discovered by their leader, a person called Pain. Jiraiya held them off until he could summon me and Ma, but even with our combined efforts, Jiraiya couldn't beat all six Pains. They kept coming back," the toad explained. "He used the last of his strength to put chakra into that scroll, but one of those Pains launched a rocket at us. I dove into the water one way, but I saw Jiraiya sinking to the bottom in another direction."

Naruto thought briefly, gripping the scroll, before saying, "Bring Kushina and Kakashi before opening that scroll, Aunt Tsunade. Fukasaku, could you summon only those toads who were close to Jiraiya. I know that you all were close, but only the closest. This office is small."

Tsunade called Shizune and had her send summons before turning to Naruto. "What's in the scroll, Naruto?"

Naruto looked at her, knowing that despite his lecherous behavior, Jiraiya had only ever loved her, and that she didn't return his feelings. "That seal is similar to part of my own seal in some ways," he explained, patting his stomach. "Bear with me. Just after Sasuke woke up from his breakdown, I asked Jiraiya about what he would say to you if he knew he would die. Jiraiya responded that it was something between the two of you and that he wouldn't tell anyone else.

"After using shadow clones for so long, I figured out some of the idiosyncrasies and technicalities. They are basically solid chakra constructs imbued with the original's mind. When we were studying storage seals and explosive seals, I noticed that they essentially sealed chakra into a scroll.

"It was then that we revisited the discussion we'd had about what he'd say to you if he knew he would die. I asked him if it was possible to seal a shadow clone into a scroll. He didn't know and we spent a while trying to work it out together before we figured out how to do it.

"That scroll contains the last remnants of Jiraiya's mind and chakra in the form of a shadow clone. He prepared it because he knew he wouldn't return from whatever mission he went on. He made it for you."

The air was still and silent for many long moments before Tsunade choked out, "How long will the clone last?"

"I don't know. As long as it has chakra and nobody dispels it is the best answer I can give you," Naruto explained. "But the real, original Jiraiya is dead, so the clone won't have anywhere to dispel. It'll start to fade as the chakra runs down rather than instantly vanish with a puff of smoke. It'll fight to stay with us for as long as it can. But its lifespan is limited to how much chakra is in the seal. We'll be watching him die."

Tsunade's hands trembled holding the scroll. Her mind was in turmoil. Jiraiya made sure that their last words wouldn't be that half-drunk bet they'd made as he walked out of the village.

Kushina and Kakashi arrived with Shizune. The Hokage's office felt cramped with Naruto, Tsunade, Kushina, Kakashi, Shizune, Fukasaku, and an older female toad named Shima. Gamabunta was outside the office, peering in through the window.

Tsunade looked at everyone once the door was closed. She wasn't sure what to say. She looked at Naruto. "How do I…?"

"It's just like a blood-sealed message scroll. It's sealed so that only certain people can open it. It's just like a storage scroll, so just put some chakra in and he'll come out of the scroll," Naruto said, barely holding himself together.

Tsunade nicked her thumb with a kunai before swiping it across the scroll. She opened it on the floor, revealing the complex seal matrix imprinted on the scroll. She looked up at everyone assembled. '_I know that he would want to see everyone in this room one last time,_' she morbidly thought, unsealing the contents.

Jiraiya blinked, looking around the room. "Too bad this isn't the hot springs," he croaked, with half a smile.

"Jiraiya…" Tsunade trailed, fighting back angry tears.

"I knew that I might not make it back, Tsunade. Nobody lives forever."

Tsunade looked at the man's shadow clone with a mixture of rage and sorrow. This would be her last conversation with Jiraiya. Ever.

"The leader of Akatsuki is one of those kids I trained back in the war," Jiraiya finally said. "I'm pretty sure the one behind it is named 'Nagato'. I don't know everything about what he's done, but the real one is using some technique to simultaneously control six bodies and each body has a single powerful jutsu that it can perform. I didn't see them all, but one has machine parts like rockets and bombs. One can summon. One can absorb chakra. I nearly beat them, but I guess one can restore the other bodies. Or maybe the original can. Or both.

"You should get more information out of the body I managed to capture, if it didn't get summoned or fight its way out."

"Shizune… did you get all of that?" the Fifth Hokage asked. The dark-haired woman nodded in response after her pencil finished moving over a notepad.

"Lord Fukasaku, please take Naruto to Mount Myoboku and train him in the sage arts. Tsunade, you should know that you'll inherit my entire estate, with the exception of certain rights regarding my books. Kushina, I wrote some letters, years ago, that are for you and Naruto. Contact my publisher for the details. Kakashi, bring me your best quality copies so I can autograph them," Jiraiya hurried.

"Bunta! It has been an honor and a privilege to fight with you for all of these years! Lord Fukasaku and Lady Shima, you were my family when I had none," he finished quickly. "Hugs for everyone!" he shouted, hugging everyone in turn.

Fukasaku grabbed Naruto, asking, "When do you want to begin your training, Naruto?"

Kushina turned to the toad. "Akatsuki is on the move. We no longer have time to waste. Go. Now," she ordered as she turned back to the man who had spent the last sixteen years trying to redeem himself for what only he had seen as a failure.

Naruto felt two toads jump up to his shoulders and then he went through a summoning vortex, appearing in a strange jungle at the foot of a mountain.

"Welcome to Mount Myoboku, Naruto. We're going to be training in the sage arts here," Fukasaku said, smiling.

**—The Land of Lightning, a few miles outside the Village Hidden in the Clouds—**

A dark-skinned man with a white chest-plate rhymed, "Don't you know? This is the Land of Lightning, yo!"

"Oh, great. The shit-talking octopus is here," a man with slicked-back, grey hair complained. "I fucking told you that we were making too big a goddamn scene."

"Just do your job!" the masked figure rumbled, already engaged in combat with a blonde woman who was covered in deep-blue chakra. "I'll handle the woman."

"Hey now, Matatabi! One of us has to get free!" the dark-skinned man shouted as a tentacle sped from his back into the masked figure. "And warn the other jinchuuriki!"

The grey-haired man rushed at the dark-skinned man, his three-bladed scythe held high, and attacked with ferocity and viciousness that the dark-skinned man hadn't encountered since the Third Great Ninja War.

'_I'm too exhausted to continue the fight, but I won't abandon a friend,'_ the woman thought.

Seeing the conflict in the woman, the dark-skinned man yelled, "I'm not messing around, Yugito! You have to escape!" without rhyming from behind the clash of blades.

"Bee!" Yugito screamed as the last of her tenant's chakra thinned away. '_He didn't even rhyme! DAMMIT, BEE!_'

"This is not a discussion! You escape or we both die. Don't make me regret coming here. Now, GO!" Kira Bee screamed as he whirled with seven blades held all over his body.

Yugito charged with all of the speed the great Two-tailed Cat could lend her back to the Village Hidden in the Clouds, hoping that she could at least provide some information to her home. The Raikage, Kira Bee's own brother, would be furious. But his fury paled in comparison to how angry the woman was at herself.

**—The Village Hidden in the Leaves—**

"Jiraiya… I'm sorry," Tsunade said once the two were alone in the Hokage's office.

"For what?" he said with a half-hearted smile. He could feel that he only had an hour or two left before he faded; just enough time to watch the sun set one last time. "I don't want to spend my last minutes in regret. Call it a last request and humor me?"

Tsunade looked at the man. It was only now, in their twilight, when it was far too late, that she realized what she should have done years ago. That she was wrong to discard him. That she could have been happy with him. Maybe, if she'd tried harder after Dan died, she might have been able to spend time with him. Maybe, if she'd tried to look past his glaring defects. Maybe…

But that wasn't how their story would end, she knew. Their story wasn't a comedy, where the heroes got together and lived happily ever after. Their story wasn't a daring adventure where the man and the woman overcame obstacles and found love in each other's arms. Their story didn't have a happy ending. Their story was a tragedy and she found out too late that she didn't like the way it ended; she didn't like it at all.

"Tsu-chan?" Jiraiya asked. "Would you… I mean, if you don't mind… Would you watch the sunset with me? Please… I-I don't want to be alone…" he finished almost desperately.

The story of Jiraiya and Tsunade would end as he faded, smiling contently, while the sun dipped below the horizon, leaving a blazing trail of fire across the sky, and she cried alone in the dark on top of her grandfather's carved face, regretting every mean thing she'd ever said to him.

**—Uzumaki Apartment—**

"You KNOW how I feel about him!" Hinata screamed in an outburst that would never happen anywhere close to a public place. "You've always KNOWN! Dammit!"

Kushina sighed. Hinata was still furious that Naruto thought of her as a sister. "I've given you advice about men before: they are stupid. You have to make things obvious," Kushina explained.

"But you sabotaged me! And now he's with Ino or Hana or one of the others!" Hinata raged.

"Hinata, how many men have you been with?" Kushina prodded.

"Those were missions! Those don't count!" the dark-haired girl fumed, uncharacteristically emotional.

"And that time with Kiba?" Kushina asked, causing Hinata to blush.

"No one was supposed to know about that!" Hinata burst, her face red.

"I didn't become head of ANBU because of my pretty face, Hinata. So you had sex with Kiba even though you don't love him. Do you think that you are the only woman to have sex with someone because she got lonely?" Kushina cooed. "Sometimes, you need more than a battery-operated friend and a good book."

Hinata paled.

Kushina laughed. "Did you think that you'd figured out some great secret relaxation technique? Women have been doing that since before their 'friends' were battery operated."

"This is about Naruto, not a history of porn. Could you at least pretend to care?" Hinata grumbled.

"Hinata, Naruto is my son. I would have been happy if he could have stayed my baby forever," she paused, thinking, '_At least I kept him from graduating early. A dozen years has to have been enough… There is no more time,_' before continuing. "But that's just not how the world works. Naruto is an adult and he'll choose his own woman. I will respect him and I'll have to be happy with whoever she is, no matter what," Kushina lectured. "And if you truly care about him, so will you."

"But…" Hinata started before Kushina interrupted.

"No. Don't get mad if you lose without trying. You haven't even begun to try, so stop acting like a child," Kushina finished sternly, her voice the implacable head of ANBU rather than the jovial matron.

"… What if he rejects me?" Hinata whispered low enough that Kushina couldn't hear.

"I have to arrange a sealing chamber for when Naruto returns. He thinks that he'll be able to harmonize his chakra after he finishes training with the Toads."

"He's only been gone for a day…" Hinata said in wonder.

"You know how he trains. He wants to break Itachi's seal," Kushina said as she finished her tea. "And he isn't giving up just because the situation looks bleak."

"I'm not giving up," Hinata said, finally regaining her composure.

Before Hinata could work her confidence up any more, someone knocked on the door. Kushina answered to find Cat, an ANBU operative with long, purple hair and long swords on her back, supporting a very drunk Tsunade, whose arm was wrapped around Cat's shoulder.

"Bring her in," Kushina sighed. Tsunade only got drunk twice a year: on her brother's birthday and on Dan's birthday. The woman drank often, but she only got completely hammered on those days.

Cat dragged Tsunade inside to the couch as Kushina closed the door behind the pair. Hinata looked concerned for the Hokage. "What happened?" she asked.

Cat finished covertly checking the apartment before Yugao removed her mask. "She drank. Heavily," Yugao responded. "I found her passed out next to a nearly empty barrel of sake on top of the monument. She kept mumbling about how she wouldn't let anyone else make the mistakes she made."

Tsunade's hand shot out, grabbing a shocked Hinata's arm and dragging the teen to within an inch of Tsunade's face. "Don't. Wait. Y'unnersan? Yuh can't jus' waitaround. If summon loves you… Love. Them. Back," she managed before she started sobbing and curled into a ball on the couch.

"Leave," Kushina commanded. Both younger women vanished from the apartment as if they'd teleported, leaving only a swirl of leaves and a swinging door in their wake. Kushina closed the door and windows, activating the complex security and privacy seals that she'd installed over the past two years for handling delicate ANBU matters at home.

No one else would know that the Hokage broke down. No one would know that she cried in Kushina's lap for hours, like a child. No one would know that while comforting Tsunade, Kushina was crying too. "They still need us," Kushina finally whispered.

Both women had finally stopped crying, but their eyes were still red and their breathing uneven. "Who?" the older woman asked.

"Everyone, Lady Tsunade. Everyone needs us," Kushina replied, wiping her eyes and smiling. "Everyone in the village. Everyone in our lives. Nothing stops because we lose one person. You know that we can't afford that. Do you remember his first book?"

Tsunade nodded dumbly. She remembered that Jiraiya had written a book that wasn't smut long ago.

"_Tales of a Gutsy Ninja_ was the title. It was his best book. Do you know what the lesson of the book was?" Kushina asked, already knowing the answer.

Tsunade croaked out, "No."

"Never give up," Kushina answered. "I know that he was the last of your peers, the last of your friends, still alive. But you can't give up yet. Look at what we've done in the last three years. Look at what we've accomplished."

"No," Tsunade firmly stated. "You're right. Nawaki wouldn't want me to give up. Dan wouldn't want me to give up. And Jiraiya…" She smiled. "Jiraiya would want me to show him my tits after not giving up."

Kushina smiled. "Did I ever tell you about the time Jiraiya 'accidentally' peeped on me with Minato?"

"You don't talk about Minato," Tsunade replied.

"Ah. Well. Minato was bugging Jiraiya about training ideas. This was after Minato had made jonin, but before he had his own team. Anyway, Jiraiya told Minato that he would help him with some seals, but only after he got some inspiration for one of the first Icha Icha books. Of course, Jiraiya wanted to look at naked women, so he dragged Minato to the hot springs, according to Minato.

"I still think that he went voluntarily, but he swore up and down that Jiraiya had forced him. Anyway, I was taking in a hot bath with Mikoto and some of the other jonin women when I smelled Minato. We'd been dating for a while and I recognized his scent.

"I didn't know he was peeking with Jiraiya, so I got up, fully nude, and walked over to the fence. Because who tells the women not to peek at the men?" Kushina said with a foxy grin. "So I snuck over to the fence and lifted myself up only to see Jiraiya and Minato ogling at everyone through some holes they'd managed to find in the fence!

"I reached out and pulled Minato over and started to beat him and yell about him and his perverted sensei in front of everyone, which was when everyone else figured out that Jiraiya was peeking on them. I was so mad at Minato for looking at other women that I'd forgotten that I was completely naked and that Jiraiya was watching the whole thing until the other women jumped the fence and started beating Jiraiya."

Kushina paused. "If you've read any of the Icha Icha series, you might recognize that scene. Of course, in Jiraiya's book, it ended a little bit differently than what happened at the hot spring that day."

Tsunade couldn't help but laugh at the story. It was just so… Jiraiya.

**—Hyuuga Compound—**

"Why aren't you preparing for the jonin examination?" Hiashi Hyuuga asked his eldest daughter.

"I am going to Mount Myoboku to find Naruto," Hinata answered politely, continuing to pack.

Hiashi stood thinking for several minutes before responding. "Why?"

Hinata mentally sighed. '_I love you, Father, but sometimes you can be quite dense._' Hinata turned to face her father, face set in determination. "Because I don't want to live the rest of my life not knowing."

Hiashi frowned. '_There are occasions when I see the wisdom in putting the Caged Bird Seal on your children…_' The man looked down at his daughter and melted inside. "I suppose there isn't anything I could say or do to stop you is there?" he asked in the icy tone he always used.

Hinata shook her head. "I'm going to see Lady Hokage and Lady Fox as soon as I finish packing. I intend to make the journey as quickly as possible. Life is short, after all."

"I will not interfere on two conditions," the patriarch replied. "First, I want your classified ANBU file. And second, I want you to take a bodyguard."

Hinata narrowed her eyes at her father. '_I expected something like this, but to so brazenly ask for that information…_' "Father, you know that those files are classified for a reason. Ask the Hokage or break into ANBU headquarters like everyone else. And a bodyguard would only slow me down."

"Very well. I will accompany you to the Hokage where I will read your file and then I will accompany you to Mount Myoboku. Hanabi and Neji will handle clan matters in my absence," Hiashi commanded. "You don't think that your father and clan head will slow you down, do you?"

Hinata sighed. '_At least he didn't order a branch member to accompany me…_'

**—Deep Underground—**

The dark permeated everything, revealing only the single eye of Danzo Shimura. He didn't move when he spoke. "You must harvest a new pair of eyes. Sasuke must return to active duty soon."

"Yes, Sir," one of the masked figures responded before fading back into the darkness.

'_That fool woman thinks that medical jutsus will bring strength to the village. I will show her true strength. Then the jonin will recognize that she is weak. Feh. It should have been Orochimaru. He understood true strength._'

**—Mount Myoboku—**

A crack rang out down the mountain and a blonde teenager screamed, "Ow!"

"Stop messing up and I'll stop hitting you, boy!" the elder toad shouted.

"If the stick clears out nature energy, then why do you only have the one stick?" Naruto shouted back.

"There are plenty of sticks, but there's only one of me!" Fukasaku shouted again.

"Then you need to learn the shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto retorted.

"That doesn't matter. Too many clones will lead to you overloading on nature chakra and turning into a statue!" Fukasaku yelled.

"Dammit!" Naruto shouted to no one in particular. He summoned four more clones and sat in the strange oil collecting in a pool at the edge of the mountain. "We can't very well stop now. This was the last thing Jiraiya-sensei told me to learn and I mean to learn it. Let's go, Toad Sage."


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine.

A/N: I'm not happy with this chapter. I've been sitting on it for weeks in the vain hopes that I would be inspired to make it better, but alas, that has not happened. I hope at least some people will enjoy it.

**Chapter 21**

"Neji Hyuuga has been locked in the Hyuuga compound for two days. We haven't seen him at all, Lady Hokage," a girl with two buns of brown hair on either side of her head explained. "We're worried that he needs a doctor but is too proud to go to one."

Tsunade nodded. Ever since Hinata and Hiashi came in, the Hyuuga's have been acting strangely. Neji was not the only Hyuuga to give sick notice. '_Maybe Kushina will have answers for me,_' the Hokage thought to herself.

"Lord Hyuuga accompanied his daughter, Hinata, on a pilgrimage several days ago. The very next day, several members of the Hyuuga clan fell ill," Tsunade replied. "The hospital and private doctors have not reported being summoned to the Hyuuga clan compound, so I'm almost certain that something fishy is going on."

The teen wearing green spandex with an absurd bowl-cut interrupted. "Lady Hokage! Please allow me to investigate the strange sickness surrounding the Hyuuga clan! My youth will destroy any un-youthful plague that is attacking my comrades!"

"I appreciate your enthusiasm, Chunin Lee, but the matter is already being handled," Tsunade explained. "I dispatched a messenger and several medics to the Hyuuga compound this morning and expect them to return with a report soon. Rest assured that the situation is under control. You are dismissed."

**—**

"How DARE they question ME! I am the clan head! I will discipline any member of the clan as I see fit!" the temporary clan head raged. Neji was finally feeling better, but his balance was still shaky. Listening to the eleven-year-old girl rant about being in charge was making his head hurt. Not because she activated the seal again, but because her voice was whiney and squealed.

'_I bet she could break glass if she shrieked loud enough…_' he couldn't help thinking. "Lady Hyuuga," Neji attempted to interject.

"The sheer AUDACITY of those… those… those PEASANTS!" the girl with dark hair and pale eyes continued ranting.

The tantrum was taking place in an office with very little furniture styled in traditional Eastern motif. Neji sat respectfully on the floor, fully expecting the rant to continue if he didn't interrupt.

"Lady Hyuuga," Neji tried again, louder this time.

"Eh? What is it?" Hanabi impatiently looked at Neji, who was bowing.

"There are ANBU approaching the compound," Neji calmly explained. "One of them is Lady Fox."

"Just who is this Lady Fox that she's so important?" the soon-to-be teen demanded.

"Lady Fox is the head of ANBU, Lady Hyuuga," Neji informed. '_And you would do well to avoid her scrutiny, dumbass. But you'll find that out soon enough… Serves you right, too,_' he thought.

"I am the clan head and I will NOT be interrupted. Make the old hag wait," Hanabi ordered as two female figures appeared in the dojo, wearing the signature black clothes, chest armor, and masks of ANBU.

The one with purple hair and a cat mask spoke first. "Lady Hyuuga, the Hokage requires your presence," she said, coldly.

"Tell the Hokage that I'll be with her shortly," Hanabi snapped.

The woman in the fox mask looked down at the clan head. "You have such pretty hair, Lady Hyuuga. Do you use any special products?"

'_Damn… Lady Fox heard Lady Hyuuga,_' Neji thought.

"I use only the finest hair-care products, as is befitting of a clan head, Fox," Hanabi responded, managing to look down her nose at the head of ANBU.

"I wonder why it's so dirty then," the redhead asked, tilting her head.

Hanabi spun to a mirror to verify that her hair was indeed covered in dirt. Neji's byakugan could see a clone tampering with the conditioner in Hanabi's bathroom, but he remained silent. He turned his eyes to meet Lady Fox's and winked at the woman.

"I will go to the Hokage as soon as I wash this filth from my hair," Hanabi responded, wondering how her hair was covered in dirt.

Once Hanabi left, Neji stumbled over to Fox and Cat. "Does the Hokage require my presence as well?" he asked as Cat steadied him.

Kushina thought for a moment, but quickly nodded. "Yes. You are a jonin-sensei and she needs to know what illness has kept you from your duties," she responded. "What illness could so egregiously affect your abilities?"

"I'm sure that some rest is all that I will need to recover," Neji responded. "Of course, if I wasn't weakened," Neji calmly explained, "I would know exactly what happened here. It's terrible that the acting clan head's bodyguard was unable to protect her from a prank."

**—**

The Hokage's office was mostly still. Tsunade clones were organizing the piles of paperwork into various categories, signing off on mission reports, and making mission assignments, while Tsunade and Kushina sat in chairs with a bottle of sake between them.

"Oh, Kushina… that's mean," Tsunade said through teary eyes. Her stomach still hurt from laughing so hard. "She's only twelve."

"She's eleven. And the little bitch needs to learn how to play with the Big Girls," Kushina said with a smile. "If she thinks she's special because she's acting clan head... Well, she isn't. And she needs to learn to respect other people."

"Still… Nair in her conditioner? With a genjutsu to make her believe that her hair was filthy?" Tsunade asked.

Kushina just smiled evilly. "It is a lesson that she won't soon forget. I could have just maimed her or killed her on the spot, you know."

"Stop acting crazy. You wouldn't hurt a child like that," Tsunade scolded.

Kushina's crazy-face faded to a light smile. "You're right, but don't tell her that. They'll be here shortly. I'll see you later, Lady Hokage," Kushina said, bowing and dispelling in a puff of smoke.

The knock at the door from Shizune alerted the Hokage to make a note of where each stack left off. Tsunade sighed, dispelling the clones. "Enter," she intoned.

Neji Hyuuga opened the door to the Hokage's office for a smaller Hyuuga wearing a bandana. "I wish to lodge a complaint against the ANBU known as Fox," the girl said as she entered.

"Oh?" Tsunade said, barely managing to contain a laughing fit. "What has the head of ANBU done?"

"She has assaulted my person," the indignant girl claimed.

"She assaulted you? Did anyone see this? Do you have any injuries?" Tsunade asked, feigning concern.

The girl stared at the Hokage and pulled off the bandana to reveal a completely bare skull. "She assaulted me and I wish to report her," Hanabi repeated.

"Lady Fox shaved your head?" Tsunade asked.

"She put Nair in my hair products!" Hanabi said with a huff. "I want her arrested and punished!"

"I'm sorry, but the village doesn't bend to your whim," Tsunade said in her Hokage voice. "If you wish to pursue this, then you should report the matter to ANBU or the Jonin Commander so that they can investigate. Otherwise, I have serious matters to discuss with you, Lady Hyuuga. I would like to know why most of your clan has been too ill to work."

Hanabi paled slightly. Neji stood quietly, like a good bodyguard, while his charge took the brunt of an angry Hokage yelling about manpower and fitness to lead. '_I miss Hinata and Lord Hyuuga,_' he thought after only ten minutes.

**—**

The forest rocketed by the teenaged girl with short, dark hair, just long enough for a ponytail. The massive trees provided many launching points to keep the travel pace between a light jog and a ninja run. A man with similar features and longer hair labored to keep pace with the teen.

"How long has it been since you've been on a mission, Father?" Hinata asked as the pair travelled at a pace that would break a normal chunin.

Hiashi was huffing and puffing, but he refused to show any weakness. "A while," he responded tersely.

"Are you alright? It's almost dark and I'm going to have to take a bathroom break soon," Hinata asked, enjoying her father's anguish immensely. For years he had told her that she was weak, that she wasn't worthy of being the next clan head. She still loved her father, but after the years of being called weak, she couldn't help feeling a hint of joy as she outpaced him. The pair had been travelling for nearly eight hours without stopping.

Hiashi grunted, "Fine," before his breathing became heavy again.

'_Her ANBU record was impressive,_' the Hyuuga patriarch thought. '_Twenty-four assassinations, seven infiltrations, and even four seductions in just one year._ _My weak daughter; the disappointment; the failure in the Gentle Fist. Only a chunin they said. Neji is stronger they said. Even Hanabi is stronger they said. If only the elders knew… Maybe I should reinstate her as clan heir and retire._'

"How did you … so much stamina?" Hiashi huffed more than asked.

Hinata smiled kindly. "Kushina-sensei trains ANBU with great intensity. There are no exceptions."

"Are you … able to fight?" he asked, genuinely curious about his daughter's capabilities.

"I could, if necessary," she responded. "The minimum rank for joining ANBU is chunin, but most are about Jonin level by the time they finish the training program. Some opt to continue until they are S-ranked," she hinted.

Hiashi thought for a moment before responding. His aching lungs had nothing to do with it. Really. "How?" he finally asked.

"The same way that all training has been modified: judicious use of medical intervention," Hinata answered. "It's far easier to advance when no one worries about injuries. The program would not have worked even a few years ago, but Tsunade and Shizune have trained and implemented an unparalleled medical program. There are enough medics to heal the worst injuries and accelerate recovery times from training strain."

Hinata stopped and retrieved the map that the Hokage had given her. The Toads and the Slugs were on good terms and if the Slug Princess sent someone, then the Toads would at least be hospitable. Even at the inhuman pace Hinata was setting, it would still be almost two weeks before they would arrive at Mount Myoboku.

"I think I'll take that break now, Father. Feel free to rest and drink some water," Hinata said, looking at the nearby foliage.

**—**

Naruto sat in a pool of oil meditating. His eyes were shadowed with orange and oil fell on him without disturbing his apparent trance. The natural energy surrounding him was easy to feel after years of a similar meditation that Jiraiya had insisted he learn.

'_Maybe this is why the old goat had me practice those stillness exercises,_' he thought before the old toad with a goatee called out.

"Naruto! It's time to try without the training wheels. Get out of the oil pond," Fukasaku instructed.

Naruto stood, jumping to the edge of the pond. He felt stronger, somehow. Reinforced by the mixture of yin, yang, and natural energies he'd gathered within his body.

"You've done well, young Naruto. Now, you must learn to gather the sage chakra without the toad oil. And then I will teach you Toad Sage taijutsu," Fukasaku explained.

Naruto let the sage chakra dissipate before following the old toad through the strange forest to their next training spot. He knew that Jiraiya was a force to be reckoned with and that the sage arts were a major part in that. If he had any hope of defeating Akatsuki, he knew that what he learned with the Toads would be crucial.

**—**

Sasuke still had bandages around his head from his eye-replacement surgery. His bag was already packed and his mind was clear. He knew that his next mission might be his last with how ROOT had insisted he hurry.

"Sasuke, you are being unnecessarily cold to the howler-monkey," Itachi commented.

"You call her a howler-monkey, brother. Why do you care how I treat her?" Sasuke responded.

"Fine. You are being unnecessarily cold to Sakura," Itachi retorted. "What happened to make you treat her like that?"

Sasuke sat at the table, trying not to scratch his itching eyes, but lifting the bandage that covered his eyes. "She's like tsukuyomi," he simply said, staring directly into Itachi's eyes with his own sharingan spinning.

Itachi sighed, removing the glasses he now wore, and activated the prized genjutsu. The two were in a world that Itachi hadn't used to just talk since before he killed Shisui. "What was so important that we had to discuss it in the most powerful genjutsu I can use?"

Sasuke responded by opening his mouth and lifting his tongue to expose a seal similar to the one Itachi bore. "Oh," Itachi said, ending the genjutsu prematurely.

"Just because I think she's like a torture genjutsu, doesn't mean that she's a bad person," Itachi replied, covering for his brother. '_When I break this seal, I'm going to unmake Danzo,_' he calmly thought.

"I have to go on a mission. Perhaps we could train later?" Sasuke said as he picked up his bag and went to the door.

"Of course," Itachi answered, adding, "Go easy on those eyes. The sharingan does not come naturally to them and I don't want them to fail you in the middle of a mission."

**—**

Shikamaru fidgeted under the glare of the Hokage and the head of ANBU.

"I'm not letting Naruto marry your girlfriend just so that she can stay here," Kushina said sternly. "So you'd better hope that the Sand elders bite off on this little exchange program you've cooked up."

Shikamaru nodded silently.

"Did Naruto tell you about the Akatsuki problem?" Tsunade asked, angry at having to deal with a potential international incident.

"I should have been told sooner," Shikamaru answered.

"You shouldn't have been told at all," Tsunade replied angrily.

Shikamaru looked at Kushina who stared at him with intensity that he'd only seen in Naruto's eyes. "It would have changed my answer to joining ANBU last year," Shikamaru retorted, slightly irritated.

"But you turned me down last year and now we need to train your body to the point where you can keep up without raising suspicion," Kushina said aloud, while secretly signing, '_I told you so,_' to Tsunade.

"I can get you Sakura for four hours every night, but you can't tell her what any of this is about," the Hokage compromised. "She is not to know that you are training to fight S-ranked opponents. Is that clear?"

Shikamaru nodded. "I was talking to Uzumaki," Tsunade said as she continued staring at Kushina.

"Yes, Lady Hokage. Sakura is not to know about Akatsuki," Kushina replied, turning to Shikamaru. "I am preparing you for the jonin test, as far as anyone else is concerned. And you will get your father to teach you clan techniques. If he gives you any trouble, blackmail him. If you don't have anything, I've got a few things that could convince him, but Shikaku will probably figure out what we're up to."

Shikamaru sighed, muttering, "Troublesome."

"Don't worry about that," Tsunade interrupted. "I told Shikaku about Akatsuki when the mission to save Gaara failed."

Kushina smiled evilly at Shikamaru. "In that case, just tell him that I'm asking him to train you and that if I'm happy with how you progress, we're even for Minato's bachelor party," she said with crazy eyes. "Tell him that if I'm not happy, I'm telling your mother about it."

Shikamaru sighed again, muttering, "Really troublesome," before he turned and left the office. He was smart enough to know when he'd been dismissed without anyone actually saying the word.

**—**

Naruto stood in front of a table opposite the massive bars that locked the nine-tailed fox away. Two clawed fingers protruded from the cage holding what appeared to be a miniscule, wooden brick. The tower of wooden bricks began to wobble and then fell with a clatter.

"Ha! I win, Kurama!" Naruto exclaimed.

The nine-tailed fox roared, shaking the bars and rattling the table, including the collapsed pile of Jenga bricks. Red water bubbled through the bars, lifting Naruto up and knocking over the table and game.

"Oi! Stop that!" Naruto shouted. "Don't be a sore loser!"

The kyuubi roared again, but the red water receded. "That game isn't fair! You have tiny little hands and I have giant claws!" the great beast raged.

"You said you wanted to play something new and this is the only game I could think of," Naruto said as the last of the red water receded back behind the bars.

The massive fox growled. "Whatever. That game is stupid," Kurama muttered before curling up. "You're not even here to see me, so just do it already."

Naruto sighed. '_I've been putting this off for far too long,_' he thought. '_And now that I'm practiced at changing chakra modulation, I really have no excuse._'

He floated up to the center of the cage, where a paper with the word "seal" was stuck over what must have been a lock. He lifted his hand to the edge of the paper before yelling, "I know you're in here, Fourth Hokage! I know you set this failsafe, Minato Namikaze! If I have to break the seal to get you to show yourself, I will! Now… SHOW YOURSELF!"

A blonde man in his twenties appeared next to Naruto next to the seal with a stern yet confused look on his face, quickly grabbing the teen's hand and moving it away from the seal. "I thought you'd grown out of temper-tantrums," the man said kindly.

"I needed to get you out of the seal in order to talk and I had no intention of waiting until a problem with the seal came up," Naruto replied with a smile. "Besides," Naruto said as a tendril of energy leapt from Naruto to the older man, changing from blue to blue-green as it travelled from Naruto to Minato, "you won't run out of chakra, so we can have a long conversation and you can teach me everything you know."


End file.
